------------------------------------------------------------------------In this Issue EDITORIAL COMMENTS

So much has happened since the last iss ue of the Road Ru nn er it is difficultto know where to begin!

People ha ve moved, babies ha ve been born, slides have slid, aspha lt hasbeen laid, ferries ha ve floated, plan s have been struck, offices have moved, sys­tems have been put in pla ce. No matter where you look in Tra nsportat ion andHigh ways, thi ngs are on the move. And behind this hive ofactivity is a groupof some 2.700 employees who are mak ing it all happ en.

Th is and upcoming issues of the Road Runner are design ed to share withyou what has been happ ening in the Mini stry, throughout the province. You'will soon be seeing Regional Newsletters that will provid e current info rma tionon more specific activ ities in each Region and their Distri cts.

Th e theme of thi s Road Runner is Ser vice Excellence. with a focus on theachievements of some hard working people - you. May you find it informat iveand fun .

Many tha nks to all who ha ve contributed stories, suggestions and photos.we could n't produ ce the Road Runner without you .

Intro the Hon. Lyall Hanson 3Carol Deveau 3Service Excellence .4

HQ tour Serves Up Excellence 7On the Road to Service Excellence ..8Fort St . John Tra de Show 9Toll Free Info Number 10New Government Directory 11New Look for Blue Pages 11The Print Shop 12You'll Get a Cha rge 14We Tak e Orders From You 15Coping with Personal Problems 15Wellness Committee 15A Look Back: th e Pattullo Bridge..16Letters 17Ata p Quarterly Info Circul ar 17In th e Field 18Provincial Directory of Serv ices 23Cass iar Connector 24

Road Runner

Road Runner is th e employee mag­azine for British Columbia Ministryof Tran sportati on and Highways. Itis produced and publi shed quarterlyby th e Public Affai rs Bran ch.Publi shed arti cles appea ring in RoadRunner may be reprinted only withthe permission of th e Editor .

Co-Editors:Betty Nicholson, Emil ie Gilli s

Direct enquiries to:Ministry of Tr an sportationand HighwaysPublic Affairs5B-940 Blansha rd StreetVictoria , B.C., V8W 3E 6

On the Cover

Cre ws smoot hing out concrete ontunnel exterior - Cassia r Connecto rproject - Vanc ouver . Thanks for th ephot o -Tom Park in, PIO, Vanc ouverIsland Region.

FROM THEDEPUTY MINISTER

I t is my pleasu re to contribute onceagain to th e Road Runner . Thi s va lu­able communications link has beensore ly missed. I want to th ank all ofyou for your patience and under­standing du rin g this peri od ofrestraint.

As alluded to in the editorial com­ments, a lot of hard work and resultsha ve occurre d since th e last iss ue.We have see n th e opening of th eOkanagan Connector, a six yea rmajor project th at was complete d onefull year ahead of schedule, on bud get- a credit to all the hard work ingpeople who mad e it happen . Othersa fe and effective rou tes that havecome to completi on are the SquilaxBridge near Chase, the West TrailAppro ach and Slocan Bluffs in theKootenays, to nam e a few. In thi stim e of fiscal res traint we have metthe cha llenges of nature in th e formof record setti ng sn ow stor ms andslide-blocked highways, and we've

respondedto increasedserviceexpecta tions D.M. Vince Collins

from our customers.This Ministry, perhaps more th an

othe rs, places great demands on it semployees both in terms of serv ice toour customers and the ability to actand react quickly in times of emergen­cy. We also have to be able to commu­nicate clearly and effective ly whenimplementing our many program s.

Renewed efforts have been under­tak en to mak e thi s Min ist ry a health­ier, happier place to work. There is alot of work still to be done, bu t we a redefinitely mak ing progress. I kn owthat this is du e to all of us wanting tomak e thi s happen. Examples ofefforts include the Occupati onalHealth Inventory Committees, theWellness Committee, th e Women 'sProgram , the Excel Program and th eDistri ct Pilot Service Excellence ini-

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INTRODUCINGTHE HONOURABLELYALL HANSON

th e manual. We went over th e ma nu­al for a year. He passed in the end."And th en the re was the woman whowas Catholic and wanted to read herprayer book. "She had memorizedher prayers in th e past. " Over th eyea rs , Carol has rece ived awards forher voluntee r work from local MLAs,schools and churches. Last yea r shereceived yet another award. OnApril 25, 1990 she was recognized,along with a number of other Victoriaarea voluntee rs, by the Lieutenant­Govern or. She was invited to a spe­cial tea hosted by the HonourableDavid C. Lam and his wife atGovernment House, in celebra tion ofVolun teer Week . About being a vol­unteer Caro l says, "It' s a nice feel­ing." But about receiving awards ,she admits th at it mak es herext remely nervous . "The childre nused to lau gh. I gave out a lot ofawards to them, but when it came toreceiving th em myself, I didn 't like it.I didn't like walking up in front of allthose people to accept th e award."

Her accolades continue as she wasrecognized J anuary 11, 1991 atCana da's Liter acy Volunteer AwardCere mony for th e Esquima lt-J uande Fuca federa l constituency.

PROFILE

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Carol Deveau, Geotech 8. Engineering, Victoria

Volunteer "Tuto r" Style

CAROL DEVEAU

"We teach them what th ey wan t tolearn ," says Carol Deveau on tu tor­ing functionally illiterate adults."There are no marks. We don't gra deth em. Thi s way th ey feel a measureof success and come back when th eywant to learn something else ." Caro lspends 10 hours a week tutoring th efunctionally illiterate, and also putsin anothe r 35 hours checking and bal­ancing accounts in the Geotechn icaland Engineering Bran ch in Victoria."It keeps me bu sy," she says. "Keepsme from getting bored." Carol hasbeen with the Min istry for 14 yea rs,s ta rt ing in an auxiliary position inFinancial Services. She also has along history as an award-win ning vol­unteer . When her childre n wereyoung, Carol did voluntee r work forlocal schools, churc hes, and Boys andGirls Clubs. She also tutored chil­dren with learning disabil iti es. The n,when her children left home, she tooksome tim e ofT - for her self. But afew years ago, she got involved in vol­un teer work aga in. "I didn't th ink Ihad the patience for children any­more. So I th ought I'd try adults ."Carol becam e involved in the AdultLit er acy Program in the Sooke SchoolDistrict. What began in 1987 as aclassroom of six students is now theAdu lt Learning Centre next to th eRuth King Elementa ry School.People who are funct iona lly illi terate,she explains, do not have the skills tofunction in a world where read ingand writi ng are taken for gra nted.Someone who is functionally illiteratemay read at a grade four level, buthas trouble filling out an employmentform. "I had a student who had grad­uated from grade 12, but he waslea rn ing disabl ed and functiona llyilliterate. He wanted to receive anair brake licence but could not read

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Han. Lyall Hanson

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Welcome to Lyall Hanson, ournew Minister of Transportationand Highways.

Mr. Hanson was elected in October1986 to represent th e Provincial rid­ing of Okanagan North. He wasraised and schooled in th e Vern onarea where he an d his wife maintainth eir perm an ent home.

Previously th e Minister ofMunicipal Affair s, Recreation an dCulture, and Minister of Labour andConsume r services, Mr. Han son'scomplete resume is a mile long!Amongst the numerous committeeshe serves on and in addition to hispoliti cal service, Lyall Han son hasplayed an active role in communityorganizations. He has been aKins ma n, a Rotarian, a memb er ofth e Masonic Lodge, a memb er of theShri ne Club, and an active memb er ofth e Royal Canadian Legion.

We welcome Mr. Han son tothe Minist ry of Transportationand Highways.

tiatives. I have seen many cha ngessince joining th is Ministry threeyea rs ago - and th e challenges th atyou have been call ed upon to face asa result . I tak e this opportunity toth ank you for your commitm ent,hard work and patience.

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SERVICEEXCELLENCEDEFINING SERVICE EXCELLENCE.

Just about one year ago, thewords Service ExcellencePr ogram appeared in our

Ministry. This was as a res ult of thedevelopment of the Service Quali tyB.C. program - an initiati ve by theCouncil of Deputy Ministers ofBritis h Columbia to provide out­sta nding customer an d client service .

Serv ice Quality B.C.'s first ste pwas to develop a Secretariat com­prised of government senior execu­tives and contract staff to provideinitial assistance to ministries. A

Task Force, made up of senior execu­tives was also established to investi-

The Service Excellence Pilot District Team:Bock Row l-r Chorlie Hutchines, Robyn Clifford, Bill Solberg,

Barry Wilton, Rob MacGregor, Col Frodin, Rolph Turner, Pot Trippell,Horb Grewal. Gordon Wagner, Second Row from top,

l-r Tony Kolman, Peorl Allen, Jim Finch, Loren Kelly, Brion Hunter,Paul Hadfield, Don Chater, Wally Quorry. Third Row from top,I-fBill Sunderwood, Dean Davis, Hali Brown, Geoff Worrington,Leslie Elder, Fred Seychuk, Allen Edger, Mork Pro". Front Row,l-r Joson Ross, Max Johnstone, Nodine Cameron, Lindo Flynn,

Roy Mau, Edi Inglis, Dean Handley_

gate specific impediment s to intro ­ducing service quality, and to makerecommendations for improvement.Both groups are guided by a Steeri ngCommittee of Deputy Minist ers,

Crown and private corporation ChiefExecutive Officers, and experiencedline staff. Vince Collins is a memberof the Steering Committee.

Service Qua lity B.C, develope da business pla n in J anuary 1991and dist r ibuted copies to all provin­cial employees, The principa l recom­menda tion of the plan is tha t servicequa lity be min istry-driven and cus­tomer-focused within a frame worksupported by central agencies .

Deputy Ministers endorsedthe business plan an d committedthe necessary resources to theproposed initiatives,

-----------------------------------As a member of th e Steeri ng

Committee and st rong believer in theService Qua lity Program, VinceCollins wholeheartedly sup port s thisinitiative. Ray Mau , a MoTH StaffDevelopment Officer, was assigned tothe position of Service Quali tyCoordinator with the objective ofdeveloping a Service Quality programin our Minist ry. Thus, the ServiceExcellence Program was born.

After an initial mini stry programpres entation to Executive Committee,Ray developed a six-month DistrictPilot Program to test ServiceExcellence values and principles.This pilot program is now completeand the introduction of ServiceExcellence to the rest of the ministrywill soon be underway.

Ray sums up the ministry ServiceExcellence program best in the guide­book developed for the pilot districts,"From th e very st art, we believe thatall of us working for the Ministryhold the key to the success of the'Service Excellence' initiative. Wehold the vision that motivated, high­ly-skilled employees will enable the

Ministry to improve its customers'total service experience by havingmany successful customer contactinstances. This District Pilot willprovide us th e best opportunity forthe creation of a healthy, functionalenvironment which nurtures Service

South Okanogan District,l-r Charl ie Hutchins, RobynClifford, Edi Ing lis, Vince Collins,

Brion Hunter, Bill Solberg

Bulkley·Nass District l-rFred Seychuk, PaulHadfield, linda Flynn, Vince Coll ins, loren Kelly,

Ro lph Turner

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SelkirkDistrict, lorJim Finch, MaxJohnstone. Nadine Cameron, Vince Co ll ins,

JasonRoss, DeanHandley, missi ng BrianAbear

FraserVa lley District,1-rBill Sunderwood, DeanDavis, Pearl Allen, Vince Collins, Tony

Kalman, MarkPratt

Excellence and which is supportive ofa creat ive, ongoing learning andimprovement process." Results of th esix Service Excellence Pilot Districtteams of Fraser Valley, South

Okanagan, Selkirk ,North Peace, Bulkley­Nass an d CentralIsland, co-ordinated byRay have already beendemonstrated. The pilotdistrict team s all reportimproved employee com­munications and clearerunderstanding of indi­vidual positi ons withinthe ministry. Many red­tape issues identifiedduring th e pilot hav e orar e being addressed.For example, Districtbank accounts totalling$500, are now in place.These allow for quickpaym ent to suppliers."Actually, the DistrictBan k account is a firstfor government becausefinance has always beena cent ralized function,"

says Ray. "The Minist ry is a pilot forthi s new initia tive and, based on oursuccess , other Ministries may havelocal procedu res in place soon." Thisnot only helps th e supplier through

6 >·· 1

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earlier payment, it also savesMinistry staff time in preparingpaperwork. As well, the limits forDistrict Highways Managers' busi­ness meeting expenses has beenraised to $250 from $100. A MinistryService Excellence Advisory Councilconsisting of Dan Doyle, GordonHogg, Neville Hope, Gordon Wagnerand Ray Mau is th e forum where ser­vice oriented suggestions and con­cerns can be raised.

NorthPeoceDistri<t, I-rAllan Edgor, leslie Elder, Vin(eColl ins, HoliBrown,

Geoff Warrington.

Centrol lslo nd, I-rHorbGrewal, DonChater, PatTrippell, Vi n(e

Collins,Col Frodin,missingPeter Wig htman

HeadquartersTour ServesUp Excellence

The Service Excellence PilotDistricts staff were in Victoria

March 12th through 14th and want­ed to take advantage of being thereto match some of th e "voices over thephone to the faces". What resultedwas "The first-ever headquarterstour" . Despite short deadlines andtrying to make things happen in abuilding that is undergoing massiverenovations, from all reports itturned out to be quite a success .

Comments overheard included"I'm not sure who enjoyed thi s more,the HQ staff or th e touring Districtstaff" "I didn 't know we did that,"and "Wow, did th ey ever put a lot ofwork into their displa y, ju st for us?"

All the stop s were pulled out andth e red carpet laid to welcome theS.E. Pilot Districts. Virtually everybra nch made up a display explai ningwhat role they play in the Minis try.HQ people were encouraged to tourthe building in th e morning and voteon dis plays. The Districts weregiven a guided tour th at aft ernoon,ending with coffee, goodies, a chanceto mingl e with HQ staff and to hearGordon Hogg, ADM, Admini strativeServices comment on th e ServiceExcellence program.

While all th e branches did a finejob with th eir displ ays, four wherechosen as top: Most Informativewent to GeoTech; Most Creative,Traffic Branch; Most Humorous toPersonnel and Honourable Mentionto Maintenance.

Congratulations to all branchesfor making the first ever headquar­ters tour such a success .

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ON THE ROADTO SERVICEEXCELLENCE

by Leslie Elder, North Peace District

All en Edgar, Hali Brawn, Geoff Warring ton, Leslie Elder

I t' s been a busy six months sincewe embarked on our journ ey

toward Service Excellence. Th e pilot

program is now over , but the work isfar from complete . The Employee

Planning and Developernent St aff,Roh McGregor , Ray Mau , WallyQuarry an d Geoff Warrington, will betravelling th e province, talking to allMini stry employees about Service

Excell ence and what it means to ourMini stry. Geoff ha s been seconded

from his duties as District Highw aysManager in Fort St. John, to work fulltime on th e Serv ice Excellence

Pro gram .

Fort St. John was one of six dis­tricts chosen to pilot th e ServiceExcellence program; Smithers,Revelstoke, Penticton , Chilliwack a ndNananno were th e other s. Fourenthus iastic supporters from Fort St.John - Geoff Warrington, DHM; Allan

Edgar, Area Man ager ; Hali Brown ,District St eno ; and Leslie Eld er ,

Developm ent Approva ls , wer e all real­ly excited about Se rvice Excellen cea nd wer e happy to become involv edwith a program th ey felt was long

overdue. Th e feeling they got eachtim e th ey met with th e oth er districts

was one of commitment; an attitudethat has been instilled in all of th eparticipants by Vince Collins and DanDoyle with each and every meetingwith the pilot group.

The big job now is to spread tho sepositive feeli ngs to other Highways

offices and get th em as excite d andresolute as th e ea rly pa rticipantshave becom e.

Th e North Peace has taken th e ini­

tiative on a vari ety of projects. InJanuary for instance, they invited th e

public in to see th e new Dist rict Oflicein an Open House th at was very suc­cessful. An employee and publi c ques­tionnaire really helped to show how

much wurk lies ahea d. Geoff fieldedcalls from members of th e communityand explained some as pects of a

District Highw ays oper ation on a localradio Open Line show. A pamphletwhich outlines the services provided bya District Highways Office is now

being prepared. The North Peaceoffice has set up an Energizer

Incentive Program th at has been pre­sented to th e Wellness Committee forpossible Ministry-wide impl ementa­tion . To introduce th eir communityand promote th e "north" as a greatplace to live and work , the Distri ctsent out information booklets on FortSt . John to every Highw ays office (ifyou didn't receive one, please callNorth Peace District) . Thanks to

Debbie Pool, th e Office Manager , staff

has begun to assemble a recipe bookentitle d "Moving up the Highw ay"with ent ries from Minist ry staff acrossth e province (They're still looking formore winning recipesl). All of th eseprojects will foster a closer workingre la tionship amongst employees andshould contribute to bringing th eentire Ministry closer together .

------------------------------------------------------------------------The North Peace office also partici­

pated in Sup erhost training recently.Just about everyone has gonethrough the program and the Districthas been designated a "Superhost"office. This training has reallyhelped in th e staffs day to day activi­tie s as well as providing great prepa ­ration to meet the public during th eOpen House and th e "Spirit of th eNorth" trade show, Apri l 19··21 - afirst for thi s office. A lot of th eemployees have shown th eir supportfor Service Excellence and purchasedT-shirts with the District motto "Let' sdo it!". These were worn by staff atthe Trade Show and will be used atfuture community events.

Their enthusiasm is infectiou s!Fort St. Jo hn was also chosen as apilot community for th e ServiceQuality B.C. program. Dale Hillmanof the North Peace Highways Districtis a member of th e committee whichis made up of emp loyees from allMini stries as well as members fromth e private sector . Right now, th eyface the task of creating a"Community Servic es Directory"

which should lead to better lia isonsand more dir ect communicationbetw een th e public and government.

The pilot group was able tosquee ze some fun into their busyschedule when they last met inVictoria on March 13 and 14. Besidesan Open House put on by staff atheadquarters, a farewell dinner wassta ged at Samuels Restaurant. TheDHMs did a traditional hula to bid"Aloha" to Ray Mau and RobMcGregor. Without their lead ershipand support, progress would not havebeen as substantial.

All six districts were honored witha certificate of appreciation from th eService Excellence ExecutiveCommittee , presented by VinceCollin s at a luncheon held in Victor iaon March 13th.

St aff in th e North Peace appreci­ate th e commitment demonstrated bythe Executive and all th e Districtstaff. Without th at level of support,th e North Peace could not possiblyhav e proceeded nearly as fa r downth e road to Service Excellenceas th ey feel t hey have today. Y

PERSONNELSPEAKINGWow! Is there ever a lot going on. Inaddition to all the organizational andclassification work , recruitment andstaffing activity, training, hea lth &safety programs, employee perfor ­mance eva luation and manpow eranalysis programs happening, wehave some very effective committeesformed that are making th is a betterplace to work . Here 's a bri ef out lineof the committees now in effect,watch for further details in futureissue s of th e Personn el Connectionan d Deputy Mini ster Updates :

OccupationalHealthInventory

Fort St. JohnTrade Show

North Peace District took serviceexcellence to heart during th e weekend ofApri l 19th, when staff participated in theannua l Fort St. John Tr ade Fair.

"Because of the size of our town, wehave only one fair each yea r," said GeoffWarr ingt on, former DHM and now withth e ministry's Service Excellence Program. "But everything, from soup to nuts,is on display. Thi s year, several Ministries in the area banded togeth er und erth e Service Qua lity B.C. banner , to take out space in th e show.

"The idea arose hecau se we wanted to help people in th e community who maynot know where to get govern ment information quickly", sa id Geoff. Most arearesidents come to the fair so we have a golden opportunity to get our messageout to a captive audience, so to speak."

District sta ff manned th e booth during th e three day event and found theexperience to be very worthwhi le. The fair drew more than 10,000 people. Y

Seven committees around theprovince, made up of app roximately10 employees each, selected by staffand management make up theOccupational Health InventoryCommittee. Dave Grant, ManagerHealth and Safety expla ins, "Thesecommittees are charged with develop­ing an action plan as a resu lt of theOccupational Health InventoryReport (O.H.I.). They will pre sentth eir recommendations to theExecutive Committee 14th to presentth eir recommendations." Copies ofth e O.H.I. report are avai lab le to allsta ff and can be obta ined eitherth rough their Regiona l O.H.I. orby contacting th eir RegionalPer sonn el Officer .

... p. 11

SERVICEEXCELLENCE

"It's a vision for th e future, for themin ist ry," replied Ray Mau , MinistryCoordina tor for th e Service Excellenceprogram when as ked to define thiscomplex and exciting program. "It isa different way for sta ff to look atthemselves an d th eir jobs."

The Service Excellence Programwas started in our mini st ry followingth e incepti on of Service Quality B.C.,an in it iative of the Deputy Minister s'Council. The achievements of ourService Excellence Program are heldin high regard by the other mini striesinvolved in the Service Quality B.C.program , becau se of th e affirmativeaction taken by Ray and our PilotDist rict Groups . Another article inthi s issue "Service Excellence, what itmeans to you" talk s furth er aboutaccomplishments and what ServiceExcellence has accomplished to dat e.

"The next ste p" says Ray, "is to goto as many grou ps in the min istry aspossible, to explain face to face whatthe program is about." Ray an d hisService Excellence Team will gladlyattend your staff meeting and assistyou in th e development of th e pro­gra m in your area in a support func­tion.

If you want to know more aboutService Excellence, giveRay a call at 387-7800.

Ray Mau

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Th e toll -free Road Report Inform ati on teleph one number has beenin effect for only 18 months and, a lready it' s exceeded all expectationsof demand .

Th is past wint er , Rob McLean, Communications Centre Managerin South Coas t Region , and respon sible for th e operation of th e toll-freetelephone number , saw ju st how popular it was du ring period s ofheavy snowfall.

"We averaged more th an 130,000 call s answere d per month ," sai d Rob,"but du rin g emergencies, we could n't handle the demand.ieven if we hadmor e th an 400 lines. With the help of our employees, and a survey con­ducted for us thro ugh B.C. News , we have been able to modify th e syste min anticipa tion for next winter."

1. Stati stics tell us that we received more calls from th e Oka naganand from Whistler th an any othe r a reas. So, we've impl ementedlocal access from Kelowna and Whistler in th e same manner as isalready in place in Greater Van couver . In the coming months, we'llbe pr oviding local access in Victo ria , Abbotsfurd and Karnl oops .With th ese high traffic areas removed from the toll-free sys te m, wecan offer better access to all other areas in th e province.

2. An automa ted data base is bein g developed to provide businesses(i.e. t rucking compan ies) an d the media with on-line access . Thatmean s radi o sta tions can dial a number from their computers andautoma tica lly pull up th e Road Repor t on their screens . No moreneed to call th e toll-free line.

3. Regional Radio Room operators will soon be able to send upd atesdir ectly to th e system. That will cut out an extra ste p in place rightnow where Comm Cent re sta ff tak e th e information and reprogramit into th eir ma chin es.

4. A library of terms is under development so all Ministry employeesa re speaking th e sa me lan guage. All employees will have the sam edefin ition of "Good Winter Driving Conditions".

5. We are rewriting th e verbal road report to advise highway condi­tions by exception. Soon you'll hear "All highways in good win terdriving condition except. ........where delays of ......... are in effect .

6. The nu mber of regional road reports will be increased to 8 from thepresent six. Two report s will be corridor -specific. When planning atrip from Vancouver to Alberta, travellers will soon be able hear theroad report for High ways 1/3 or Highways 1/5. Th is in formationwill be included in one report , ins tead of the current scenario wheretr avellers mu st listen to two different regional report s.

J ane Sparkes, PIO from North West Region , an d Rob arc spearheadingthe improvement program with Regiona l Operations Managers andRegional PIOs. y

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Russ Spilsbury, St aff DevelopmentOfficer tells us th e Excel Programwas developed by MoTH to fill a needfor a development plan th at will sa t­isfy future management require­ments. "The aim is to encourageemployees to broaden th eir manage­ment skills and career options, " saidRuss. The Excel Pr ogram consis ts offour phases: Selection, DevelopmentPlanning, Education an d Assignm ent- leading to pools of eligible candi­dates for career advancement forfuture man agement and supervisoryvacancies. Adds Russ, "Excel focuseson the development of leader ship andman agerial skills; it does not replacetechin ical train ing in any way."

... p. 13

The ExcelProgram

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NEW LOOK FORTELEPHONE BOOK BLUE PAGES

This year, when you receive a request from InformationSystems Branch to update the ministry's blue pages directory,you'll notice a change in format.

The Blue Pages section will, for the first time, include a keyword index section to help users quickly find the informationthey need. The ministry's submission will highlight the roadreport telephone number and the road and bridge contractor'sname/phone number at the top of the listing.

This is followed by a brief description of the Region's (in thesix Regional cities only) and/or District's responsibilities sothat callers can direct their enquiries to the right place on thefirst call.

Here's an example.

Under "roads",subsections include:adjus tment, by-laws, review,approval conditions, bull etins ,reporting conditions, inform ationsigns, signals , locationsee a lso highway s

Municipal Affairs Ministry ofTran sportation

Mini stry of Tourism & Recreation

Ministry of Tran sportation

We'll let you kn ow when BritishColumbia's ver sion is ready for dis­tribution.

From th e Public Affair s Bran ch,th ank you to everyo ne from the min­istry who reviewed th e informationan d provided the descriptions th atwill ultimately mak e all our jobs alittle easier.

NEW GOVERNMENTDIRECTORY IN THEWORKS FOR SUMMER

How often have you heard some­one at th e other end of th e phonesay, "You're th e third per son I'vespoken to. All I want is some infor ­mation on......" . Or how many tim eshave you been tran sferred to threeor four people when you want th ean swer to a simple question?

Frustrating? You bet. But , soonth ere will be help.

Under the umbrella of Ser viceQuality BC, each ministry wasapproached to provide a briefdescript ion of services/departmentsth at the public may access.

Service Quality B.C. is now com­bining the information into a gov­ern ment dir ectory th at will be avai l­able to th e public thi s summer.

Kris Aitk en , from HeadquartersPublic Affairs Branch , coordinatedth e project on beh alf of th e minist ryearlier th is spring. Copies of th emini stry's submission ha ve beensent to each Region and District tohelp staff answer questions aboutoth er bran ches/sections inTr an sportation and Highways.

The concept is based on th eOnta rio dir ectory called, KWIC (KeyWord Index in Context ) Ind ex tuServices. It is des igned to provideth e user with "key word" access toth e descriptions of branch es, pro­grams and agencies of the Onta riogovern ment , and to offices whichprovide th e service.

Key words are listed alpha bet ical­ly, along with the min istry responsi­ble and page number in th e book.

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THE PRINT SHOP: Getting the word out.

II P lanning is nonexist ent, "

says Steve Neth erton, printing sup er­visor at Printing Serv ices. But nomatter how suddenly a job is foistedon them, this group at headquartersjumps into the task.

"People are looking for a quickturnaround on lots of rush projects,and for the bread-and-butter kind ofprinting projects , we're able to do it."

"Reprographics" is a service-orient­ed group of five fulltim e st aff who aregeared to meeting the Ministry'simmedia te printing needs . With awealth of equipm ent and an enor­mous var iety of skills they get the jobdone quickly. "All the people herewere printers at one time ," saysSteve, who has been with theMinistry for 17 years.

Some of the print shop mater ialthat you might come across in yourday-to-day work are booklets, forms,contracts, news releases and manuals Steve Netherton, Supervisor Printing Services

Bev McFadyen and AI Anderson, Printing Operators

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Terry Boormon, Printing Operotor

Greg West, PrintingOperotor

- everything from FMIS manuals toenginee ring or personnel or financialmanuals . "We're very much gearedto contract documents," says Steve,"bu t we're ready to tak e on a vari etyof pr inting jobs, as well as copying,binding, stapling, cutting , drilling,laminating and more."

"We now have a Kodak 300 copierwhich will more than double our pro­duction capability ," says St eve. "Thatmean s we can print more th an 1.2million copies a month. Items th e

11I

size of your desktop can be pri nted,we can print on a variety of differe ntpa per , an d greatly enlarge or reducefrom the original."

Three staff mem bers are trainingon th e recently acquired desktop pub­lishing system. Thi s holds promisefor some expansion of the bran ch'sgraphic cap abilities - now limited tothe production of bas ic form s, logosan d designs for cont ract covers.

"We can do an y colour, as long asit's black," jokes Ste ve. But a colourcopier could be in the picture.

The shop also laminates (in a vari­ety of different thi cknesses) sign s,maps, and other items such as aerialphotographs which are used by theAvalanche Section for identifyi ngavalan che runs .

St eve made a tour of the regions ayear or so ago to explain some of th eservices that are available. "If it'sworth their while to have the materi­al sent to headquarters, we'll beha ppy to do it here." Should youhave any questions or nee d expertadvice, Steve and crew also provideprinting advice to help you get theend product you have in mind. y

Women'sProgramsCommittee

, he 10 ministry representativesmaking up the Women's ProgramsCommittee are striving to enhanceth e working environment and job sat­isfaction of women employees. TheCommittee develops an annual actionplan with goals and a strategy.

The Women's Programs Committeereports to the minis try's Execut iveCommittee and supports the Advisorto the Ministry Responsible forWomen's Programs.

Dan Doyle, P.Eng. , ADM, is th eExecutive Committee Represent ative,Sharlie Huffman , P.Eng. , Reg. BridgeEng. Central North East Region isour Ministry Advisor to th e MinistryResponsible for Women's Programsand, Chair of Minist ry Women'sPrograms Committee. Barb Harrison,Executive Administrative Coordinatoris the alternate advisor and also sitson the Ministry's Committee.

The other CommitteeRepresentatives are: South CoastRegion: Sharon Goddard, P.Eng .,Project Manager. ThompsonOka nagan Region: J oanne Harde r ,Secretary. Kootenays Region:Georgina Ortis, District OfficeManager. Central North East Region:Susan Harrison, Regional PersonnelAssistant . North West Region: GailMcFadden, Regional PersonnelAssistant . Vancouver Island Region:J udy Robertson , DevelopmentTechnician. Headquarters Victoria :Veronica Walsh , Executive Secretary.

For further information on theWomen's Programs Committee, con­tact your representative and watchfor a new brochure filled withdetails, due out th is Spring .

... p. 15

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YOU'LL GET A CHARGEOUT OF OUR ELECTRICAL PEOPLEIIW e just get in , get the job

done and get th e heckout ," agreed Al Sadler , Ross Caseyan d Dave Trod d during their inter­view for the Road Runner .

However , after listening to allthe things our Electrical group does,

you realiz e just how modest thesepeople are.

They claim th e group atHeadquarter s does "th e paper workstuff ' and th e shops "puttogether th e stuffthat'sneeded" - if it were onlythat simple!

Al is th e Senior Elect ricalEngineer, Ross is th e SeniorElectrical DesignTechnician and Dave is theTraffic Engineering Cent reSupervisor . Working withth em are Peter Boudreau,Technologist, Standards andSpecial Projects , PatrickLivlosi, ElectricalOperations Engineer , Lind aGabriele, Dave Moran andRuss McDonald , all technical peopleout uf HQ, and Ron Jameson, JamieHill and Chad Bell , part of I,he TrafficEn gineering Cen tre in Victoria. Wecan't forget Brian Day, our ElectricalPruject Inspector who certifies allt ra ffic signals in the provincial high ­way sys tem, and our RegionalElectri cal Maintenance crews whoensure what we install is maintainedprop erly.

The Electrical group uf Highw aysEngineering is responsibl e for allelectrica l design for highways in th eprovince . They liaise with contrac­tors in various stages of projects, arerespon sible for signa ls and stree tlighting. Those 22 changeabl e mes­sage signs around the province areanother example of th e type of items

Electrical Branch obtains for themini stry. Al said, "We check out reli ­ability, the type of system and thesigning function before we invest insigns like thes e. We are really th ebrid ge betwe en maintenance anddesign ."

The list goes on with Electric a lresponsible for th e lan e control sys­tems on th e Okan agan Lake Bridge,Lions Gat e bridge and the Massey

From lelt Ross Cosey, Sm. Elec trical Design Tech., AISadler, Sm. Electrical Engineer,David Trodd, Troffic Engineering Centre Supervisor.

Tunnel rever sible laning and light­ing . The tunnels through the FraserCanyon have been recently upgraded,a large undertaking that will resultin safer tunnels, that will be eas ier tomaintain . "The lighting fixtures forth e Massey Tunnel upgrade werebuilt right here in B.C.," added DaveTrodd and Ross Casey.

According to Al Sadler , ElectricalIS going throu gh quite a technologicalchange right now, meaning Tr ainingaids are requ ired for staff in th e field ."The main tool is now a laptop com­puter ," sa id Al "The job used to bemore bending conduit and pullingwires. Our new traffic controllersnow have modems enabling us toupload and download timingchanges remote ly."

Technology plays a major part atth e Traffic Engineering Centre wherea new traffic controller ha s beendesigned to tak e advantage of state­of-the-art equipment. Th e messageon some of th e open and closed signsaround th e province can be changedby "dial up", usin g phon e lines tocha nge the message by computer , butmany still require local access. DaveTrodd explained that thi s can be

taken one ste p further ,"Now, signs can bechanged by cellul ar phone,virtually eliminating prob­lems that can be createdwhen hydro and phon elines are wiped out bysomething like a flood.Thi s means we can get themessage up and keepmotorist s advised."

A test site in Dun canwill be completed later thi syear to ins tall a mast ercontroller . Thi s will enable

the controller s to more accu­rately select timing plan s appropriatefor th e level of congestion . Detectorssprea d throughout th e system willmonitor volume den sity and speed ofth e tr affic. For more information onthi s, be sure to read the article fromRegion 6.

With all thi s and more on th eirplates, Electric al is involved with aschool program. Region 1 Electri caldeveloped a video and presentationthat th ey take around to elementaryschools to show how signals work andwhat happ en s a t intersections.

Tr affic control upgrading is amajor job, "we won't sacrifice sa fetyfor deadline ," echoedAI, Dave and Ross.

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NOTES ONROAD HISTORY

In 1953, Harry Cairns, Proj ects Engineer for the mini stry inKam loops and later in Victori a, compiled a histo ry of our provin­cial road system. It was aptly titled, "Notes on the Road Historyof British Columbia".

If you would like a copy, please cont actPublic Affairs, 387-3198.The se are ju st two examples of his work :

Hope-Similkameen Trail,Built in 1860

In 1860 Sargent McColl and a det achm ent of Engineer s locat­ed a trai l from Hope toward th e Simi lkameen , as far as thesummit, carrying over an elevation of 4,000 feet with no greate rsingle gradient than 1 foot in 12. Later , in the summ er of 1860,the Hon. Edgar Dewdney built along thi s route the first trailfrom Hope to the Similkam een.

The Yale to Spuzzum TrailBuilt in 1860

The next work undertak en was th e trail built from Yale toSpuzzum in th e summer of 1860 by Powers and McProberts.The old trail of the fur -brigad es followed up Yale Cree k, andover a divide to Spuzzum. The new one was built along theFraser, following much the same route as later adopted for thewagon road. Governor Douglas wrot e, "The arduous part ofthi s und ertaking - excavating th e mountain near Yale - was exe­cuted by Engineers und er Sa rgent Major George Cann in amanner highly creditable." y

WE TAKE ORDERSFROM YOU

If you need a name badge, let Public Affair s know! You won'teven need to fill out a form . Simpl y send a Wan g Office toCecile Halsey stating th e name you want on your badge - it canbe your first name only, first and last , may or may not includeyour title. You tell us. And if you need business cards, look nofurther tha n your Queen s Printer requi sition form . All empl oy­ees are encouraged to order business cards. You can add th atper sonal touch of service to all your customer tran sactions whenyou hand out your card. Let th em know your name, let themknow you care, order your cards right away! y

Coping withPersonalProblems

Each of us faces a vari ety of problems inour dail y lives. People may find tension inpersonal relationships, get stressed aboutfinancial problems, face difficulties withdrugs or alcohol, or feel dissatisfied withwork. Usually we man age to work out ourproblems, but sometimes we need help.Otherwi se, the probl em may become worse.

The Employee Assistance Program pro­vides mini stry employees and their familieswith free professional counselling which isstrictly confidential. If you need assistance,or know someone who docs, call thi s toll freenumber : 1-800-972-2327 . In Vancouv er, call873-1315.

WellnessCommittee

"This is more th e holistic app roach , awhole lifestyle thing," explains Dave Grant,Man ager Hea lth and Safety. A Wellnes sCommittee has been establish ed to look atth e factors in and out of the workp lace th ataffect employees . In short , happy, healthypeople, make happier, more productiveemployees.

The Wellness Committee will be dis­tributing a questionnaire a t th e end of Maythat will be ana lyzed by Health and WelfareCanada. This will give a clear picture ofwhat our emp loyees believe we need fromth ere, three year acti on plan will be devel­oped. "Wellness covers everything from fit­ness, nu trition through Daycare," add edDave . "If everything is fine at home, it

helps tak e th e pressur e off at work "

y

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I A LOOK BACK II AT THE PATTULLO BRIDGE II r ~ 1 I~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ - ~

~ - ~ lJ ~~ ~ ~I Pfi oIogfOp hof jhePortulloBlidge on cempleficn_FromI937sowenil booklet. I~ ~~ Back in 1937, an " off icia l souven ir" hooklet was rel eased 10 comme mur a tr- the open- ~~ ing of the Pattullo BI'idge in Ne w Westminster. The four-lanr- Ill'idgl ~ wa s co ns tr-uc t- ~

~ cd by Dominion Brid~e Company Ltd . at a total cos t of approximately $4 million. ~

~ llefo,-e the Pattullo Bridge, public trunsp orta tion across ,I", Fruser Rive" hegan in 1884 ~~ with the " K .D. K." fCITy whi ch had a r-apacit y of two teams and wa gon s. Althou gh man y ~

I§l dwrgcd that thi s wa s an extravagant ex per imen t doomed to failure , traffi c pick ed lip , a nd I§l~ a larger ferry carne into se rv ir-e. St ill, in those da ys , a fanner living more than 20 mil es ~~ fr om Ne w Wcstminist cr often required three days to com ple te a return trip to markct. . ~~ By L902, «on strur .tiun began on a ln -id gc. In thOSI~ da ys of the horse , buggy, and farm ~~ wagon , the hridge wa s hailed as a momentou s achievement. Hut , even tu all y, the demands ~~ of modern hi ghway traffic signaled th e need for a new bridge , and th e Pallllllo Bridge wa s ~I eonslrue' e,I-;3 yca,·s a~o. I@] @]

I 16i ~1

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LETTERS

------------------------

The following letter was receivedby the Minister's office in Marchabout the our Central CaribooDistrict Office:

In reference to your letter August 2,

1990, I wish to express my pleasure

and the appreciation of the Chimney­

Felker Lake La ndholders Association

in the ma nner and quality of con­

struction of the rema inder of Chimney

La ke road completed last fall .

Mr. Milburn , District High ways

Manager and his staff are to be con­

gratulated. They displayed dedica­

tion and concern, contacting each

property owner on several occasions to

ensure their satis faction regarding

driveways and dra inage problems.

Th ey are a credit to public relati ons

and to the Civil Service.

Th e general contractor also

deserves a vote of thanks for the shill

and effort they put into completing

the road /01' logging, touri sm, recre­

ation, and continuing constructinn of

homes we are looking foward to com­

pletion of the pa ving th is year as you

suggested. The pa vement will add

greatly to the safety and to the enjoy­

ment of the public and residents.

Thank you for your continued

int erest in the Cariboo.

Your s sincerely,

Jim Fraser, President Chimney ­

Felker Lahes Landholders Association

And this letter to John Hallam,Area Manager, Kelowna,

Dear J ohn :

Re: Im provement ofroads with in

our school's attendance area .

The pa rents of Winfield

Elemen tary extend our sincere appre­

ciation for the "extra mile" you have

gone to ensure the safety ofour chil­

dren. The widening ofpart of

Oka nagan Centre Road, the flas hing

beacon at its inte rsection with Berry

Road an d the partial school zone

signing are all acknowledged as

essentia l steps in getting our kids to

school in one piece.

My apologies for getting th is letter

to you so lat e. I hope you saw the

public thank you in the Winfield

Calendar newspaper last month.

All of us, . parent s and highways

personnel - have recognized that there

rema in other un safe conditions in our

school area. I sincerely hope the

working relat ionship we ha ve devel­

oped will help us in future situations.

Once again, John, you have our

heart felt gra titude for responding to

our concerns with personal attention.

Sincerely,

Holly McNeil-Hay President,

Win field Elementary Parent s

Advisory Council

ATAPQUARTERLYINFORMATIONCIRCULAR

Have you heard of ATAP. It is theAir Transport Assistance Program,part of the Ministry since 1978. Toinform people about th e program, anew ATAP Inform ation circular, pro­duced quarter ly and called "B.C.Airports Update", is appearingin offices throughout th e ministry. Itis loaded with information coveringapproved airport improvementgrants, community airport initiatives,and other interesting airport relateditems. The Update is sent to all com­munity airport operators, consul­tants, other interest ed parties and toall our offices. Watch for it!

Has someone in your office received a pat on the

back lately? Share the story through the Road

Runner. We all know what terrific staff we have, it's

always a pleasure to hear that others think so too!

v

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REGION lA VERY SOCIAL REGION

lstRow (1- r): louiseSmith, Kenfrederick, Sylvie Mclean, Debbie Moss2ndRow (1- r) : Bob Newton, Derek Parkes, louMitchell, Dove Cunliffe

The first annual South Coast "Funspiel"was held on February 23rd and was a

roaring success! 48 curlers an d a host ofspectators took part and a good time was hadby all! On April 6, South Coast social focusswitched from the curling rink to the bowlingalley for our first "Crazy Bowling" night -­another great success! Upcoming Region 1socials include a golf tournament (June), abarn dance (July) and a family picnic inAugust. Congratulations to Debbie Moss forcoordinating our social activities and to LynnGreenall, Jim Lawrence, RoxannaGroundwater, Elaine Germyn, Derek Parkes,Judy Schut and Lorraine Logan for helpingDebbie organize our events.

foreg round: Derek Parkes, Background: GlynBriscoe

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Keithatthecontrolpanelof thecommunicotions centre in Burnaby.

From theHigh Seasto theHighwaysSubmitted by:StanR. Kravetz CommunicationsCentle Operator, Burnaby

Keith Windsor has come a longway since he was born atBonavista Bay in Glover

Town, Newfoundland. He now worksat th e provincial communicatio nscentre in Burnaby.

In 1959, Keith took up his firstna vy post ing in Corn wallis, NovaScotia . In 1975, th e infamous phr ase,"Go West Young Man " becam e a real­ity as Keith joined the team at theAldergrove naval sta tion. Th reeyea rs later, he found him self aboardHMCS Gatineau, stopping in exoticplaces such as San Diego, Hawai i,Man ila , Hong Kong, Pusan (Korea)an d Yokah am a (J apan).

Keith could have stayed wit h th enavy until age 50, after 25 years ofservice. He was still spry at the ageof 48, and ready to cha rt a newcourse .

Keith started working with us in1984, joining th e crew at Deas Tower,now known as the Massey Tunn el.Responsibiliti es for Keith includedcompiling and editi ng road informa­tion for Regions 1 and 6, changingoverhead message signs an d oversee­ing th e northbound morning rushhour counter-flow. Just afte r Expo'86, Keith and five others moved tothe new provincial communicationscentre in Burn aby.

For those at th e regional office inBurnaby, th ere is another side to th eNewfoundland native - culinaryskills which are reputed to be second­to-none. The temp tin g aro ma of clamchowder has, on occasion, waft edth rough th e office. Keith wants youto experience his eastern necta r ofth e gods, which th e aut hor of th isarticle will attest to as being simplyexquis ite . Bon appetit!

KEITH'SCLAM CHOWDER

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 to 1/2 lb. bacon, chopped

2 small can s clam s(5 oz - 142 grams each)

1 14 oz can clam nectar

2 1/2 cups cubed potatoes

1 large grated carrot

1 large grated onion

pepper to taste

3/4 cups milk with approxima tely2 Tbsp . tapi oca or corn starch toth icken.

1/4 cup evapora ted milk

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Saute bacon wit h onionand pepp er .

2. Drain clams, reserving liquid.

3. Add nectar and res erved clamliquid to cooked bacon an d onions.

4. Add potato an d carrot.

5. Add clams when potato is cooked.

6. Add evaporated milk an d mix withtapioca or cornstarch.

7. Stir and let simmer on low heatuntil thickened.

y

19 I.. -:\ / / ::

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REGION 3

"TENDER" FOOTED CONTRACT ADMINOFFICERS "MOBILIZE" TO NELSON

SOUTHCOASTSALUTES•••Submitled by Jim Dovidson

Catherine Worley, operator in th eProvincial Communications Centre,is the national women's champion intrampoline sport. She had the oppor­tunity to represent Canada at th eWorld Trampoline Championships inMoscow in April where sh e camesixth in the world singles trampolinecompetition. Catherine and herpartner came third (bronze) in thedoubles competition!Congratulations Catherine,South Coast region is exceptionallyproud of you!

J ust what is ContractAdministration all about? It'sabout low bidders and high

finance; old roads and new highways;easy-to-read documents and hard-to­meet deadlines.

But it's also about the energeticpeople who keep the RegionalContract Administration branchesskillfully managed. Known to the

Ministry as Regional ContractAdministration Officers, these newestexperts in the fast-p aced field ofContract Admin met in Nelson lastSeptember to exchange ideas, strate­gies and fellowship.

Decentralization of March 1990shifted the responsibilities ofContract Admin from headquartersin Victoria to each of the province's

SOUTH COASTRECYCLESAND PLANTS

South Coast's RecyclingCommittee is taking part in"National Pitch-In Week", May 6-12.Our recycling efforts to date hav eresulted in th e saving of 100 trees!And to mark "Pitch-In-Week", we'regoing to plant 100 seedlings in aBurnaby Park on May 9th! LaurieFulford, our recycling chairpersonha s made arrangements with theMinistry of Forest s to donate 100seedlings for our "pitch-in" program,with the Ministry of Environmentwho are donating garbage bags for apark clean-up which will be part ofour tree planting efforts and with th eDistrict of Burnaby.

introduc ing ...Regionol Controct Administration Officers: fromleft: Morielle loplonte.NorthWest Region; GlorioConnon, Kootenoys; DougMiller, SouthCoost;Kensey foort, Vo ncouver Islond, lynnDuff, Centrol/NorthEost;ondBe t1y McCow, Thompson'()konogon.

20 1

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SIGNAL SYSTEM A FIRST IN B.C.

NEWS FROMVANCOUVER ISLANDREGION 6

six regions . Since that time,with the help of Cont racts person­nel in Victoria, the Officers havededicated themselves to maintain­ing consist ent procedures andhigh standards withinContract Administrati on.

Working closely with otherHighways branches such asOperati ons and ProfessionalServices, Contract Admin Officersand their st affs perform a multi­tude of steps involved with theadministration of Contracts.Tasks include determining adver­tising strategies for upcoming pro­jects; compiling an d selling contractdocuments; chairing tender open­ings , overseeing the awarding pro­cess and maintaining accuratefinan cial management. Mostimportantly, th e Officers ensureth at appropriate policies and proce­dures are adhered to throughoutth e lifetim e of a contract.

Brainstorming sessions such asthis recent one in Nelson give theOfficers th e valu able opportunity tostrengthen communication betweenth e regions and headquarters, aswell as to evaluate current proce­dures. The Officers' shared experi­ences become valuable learningtools for all concerned. As aresult, a standardized approachto the administration of contractsis achieved.

In keeping with that th eme, theOfficers ha ve formed th eProcedures Manual Committeewhich will exam ine specific aspectsof Contract Administration.

As the Ministry continues toenter into millions of dolla rs of con­tra cts every yea r, contra ctors andHighways representatives can relyon Contract Administrati on to keepthe standards high, the proceduresfair and the journey smooth .

v

The Trans-Canada Highwaythrough Duncan on sout hernVancouver Island will be the site ofthe first installation of a computer­controll ed traffic flow system by theministry. A small enclosed box calledLM 100 will be the silicon "brain"behind a signal system operating fiveintersections spread over 2.5-kilome­tre s through the coreof that community.The work is part of th eVancouver IslandHighway project.

Working with thatmajor project team isRegional TrafficEngineer Barbar aThomas. Her role hasbeen to help design thesystem, and she'll pro­gram it, once it's inplace. "This systemhasn't been on themarket too long," Barbsaid from her Nan aimooffice, "I have a hugeamount to learn. Oncethe installation is complete, I'll use itsin-road sensors to collect data for set­ting up optimal timi ng patterns foreach intersection."

This "smart system" determinestraffic flows by using a ser ies of dia­mond shaped sensors, buri ed in thepavement between each intersection.Metal vehicles as small as motorcy­cles can be sensed by th is equipment,which will tell the LM 100 at whichcorner vehicles are waiting and how

long they 've been th ere . In addition,sensors will te ll the computer whenleft-turn lanes are full, and whenvehicles are backing dangerously intoadjacent lanes. Once set up , the sys­tem will be programmed so that high­way lights are synchronized for mini­mal stop-and-go, but so that the wait­ing time on adjacent streets is less

than it is now."Thedifference with thissystem is that it isalso able to changethroughout th e day inorder to meet antici­pat ed traffi c pat­tern s," sa id Barb.She's also excited byother possibilit iesava ilable with th issystem: "I can pro­gram for specialevents like proces­sions or for holidays.I can even call the LM100 using a modemand phone line toadjust signal patterns

without ha ving to drive an hour southto Duncan."

Other bells and peeps on the sys­tem are audible crossing signals forpeople who can't see the lights . Whenit's safe for pedestrians to step out,these signa ls peep briefly. Publicmeetings on the project brought upthis idea, and the project team obligedby including three in the design.Complete installati on isexpected mid summ er. V

21 / 1

MAJOR PROJECT UPDATE

CASSIAR CONNECTOROne of Greater Vancouv er 's

longest awaited projects isnow about 50 per cent complete andthe Cassiar Connector should be openfor business in early 1992. Total costis estimated to be $102 million (in1989 dollar s).

The project is to upgrade the two­kilometre stretch of th e Tr an sCanada Highway between th e end ofthe Highway 1 freeway and th eSecond Narrows Bridge.

From FirstAvenu e to theSecond Na rrowsBridge, th e pro­jects lowered high­way lan es, runningthrough a tunnel,will eliminateintersections withVancouver's streetsystem. TheCassiar Connectorwill also improveth e flow of trafficon Has tings Streetand provide a bet­ter connectionbetween th e high­way and the Portof Vancouvel'.

The 730-metretunnel, which actu-ally consists of two"tubes" will accommodate two-direc­tional traffic and provide pavedshoulders for emergency stops an demergency access . The tunnel is nowabout 60 per cent complete and isimpressive with it's modern vent ila­tion and lighting system.

Dale Cripps, at Fence LavalinCorporation, act ing on behalf of th e

Ministry as Project Director tells usth at all major detours during con­st ru ction ar e now in place. Althou ghthese are tem porary, th ey must bedesigned as perm an ent roads toaccommodate th e more th an 80,000vehicles per day using th e TCH!"This is no small feat consider ing th efact th at th e Hastings/Cassiar inter­section is th e busiest west of Toronto!

"The project site is a hive of activi­ty with sections such as th e McGill

,-

The north end of the tunnel.

street overhead complete and in ope-r­ation. Keep in mind tha t all of thi sconstruction is happening in a two­kilometre st retch! Cassiar Street isdetoured at the north end to allowconstruction of five bridg e structures.These struct ures lift th e TCH over anew ramp tha t will take traffic fromth e south dir ectly to the Port of

Vancouver. The Cambridge Streetoverp ass has been demoli shed at th erequest of Vancouver Heights resi­dents who no longer see highwaytraffic diverting to residential streetsduring peak demand s.

New on and off ramps on the TCHat 1st Avenue are und er constructionand th e William Street pedest rianoverhead is being demolished towiden and realign th e highw ay.School children are being tran sported

by jitney bus ser­vice from the eastside of Cassiar , toschool on the westside during con­struction of a newpedestrian over­head and a tempo­ra ry signalledcrosswalk is inoperation for allother pedestrians.A series of detourswill be in place onth e highway nearWilliam Streetwhile realignm entis und er construc­tion for th e southtunnel entrance.

The SkeenaTunnel, accessing

Vancouv er Heights atthe south end of th e Second NarrowsBridge, will be kept open until workis completed on th e Connector. TheCity of Van couver th en intend s toclose it.

The whole project is schedul ed forcompletion in Spring 1992, whenland scaping is finished.

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QP #8911 9