Road maintenance

Today experts are investigating the cause of the bad accident on the Coquihalla Hwy, south of Merritt. Lots of finger pointing, mostly to drivers and their lack of caution. Road conditions are the biggest factor, but you can't point your finger at Mother Nature.

I think we all agree that this winter has been a little excessive in the snow fall department and it seems the road plowing/sanding has been very poor. Another question we should ask is who decides when the highway should be plowed/sanded? Or decides if the highway should be closed?

Police already admitted they don't decide this. Is it the private contractor that maintains the Coquihalla who decides when to close the Hwy? I sure hope the plow/ sand trucks were not parked when this accident occurred or there should be a price to pay.

In my opinion, drivers are used to the quality of the roads from previous years. I know I am, I drive to road conditions and expect to at least see some sand on the compact snow at intersections so I don't slide into moving traffic. No, I do not expect clean dry pavement the day after a dump of snow, but at least throw down some sand. So to sum up this comment, I feel the maintenance contractors are only providing the service they have money for, if not less. When the Okanagan gets a fraction of snow next year, do these contractors laugh all the way to the bank?

Mike Bell