Wildwood Hill is a two-kilometre stretch of hilly highway with a teeth-clenching set of curves. Lately, the only road between Townsite, Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation and Lund has also been a worksite.
Many residents this summer have had the opportunity to experience the novelty (and frustration) of near urban levels of traffic due to efforts to widen and repave the troublesome bit of Highway 101—but while delays have been a nuisance, consideration must be given to the labours of the crew on the ground.
Hired by the ministry of transportation and infrastructure, road crews have been pulling 12-hour days on the steep hill in order to widen the narrow patch of highway that often saw semi-trucks using the oncoming lane in order to navigate the hairpin turns.
“This is one of the ugliest job sites I have been on because of the grade,” said Chris Riczu, quality control superintendent for BA Blacktop. “By the end of the day all our legs are just burning. I’m waiting for it to be over so I don’t have to walk up it again.”
The crews of BA Blacktop and Ace Traffic Control have been labouring on the hill since late May, stopping cars, directing trucks and making sure the once too-narrow stretch of road will now include wider lanes with shoulders for pedestrians and cyclists.
With so many work-related traffic delays one major on-the-job danger was road rage, said Riczu, who has worked for the company, once owned by his father, for almost 21 years.
“Yelling is not going to get you through here any quicker,” he said, laughing. “It’s unbelievable how much traffic is out here…I didn’t realize there were that many people in Powell River, to tell you the truth.”
However, Riczu explained that for the most part locals have been very patient about delays and very generous to his crew.
“We had a lady bring out a couple boxes of Fudgsicles the other day and nd cold drinks out their windows.”
Taking time from a busy day co-ordinating pavers and trucks to interview with the Peak, Riczu said he’s proud of the detailed work his crew put in to creating a level and drivable surface on the hill.
“We’re testing densities, depths, widths, absolutely everything,” he said. “We’ve also done a lot of widening to create this new barrier and these super-elevated corners to give people the width they need.”
Road construction is one of the hallmarks of civilization and in the days of Ancient Rome the purview of the army. While today’s road work is mostly a civilian affair, with so much money, manpower and equipment on the go, military precision is still very much a requirement.
Riczu, who has worked jobs in Gibsons, Sechelt and Powell River, explained that everything on the hill is geared toward safety and keeping the work going forward.
“We try to keep it at a constant where we keep the trucks turning around and going and going and that’s a priority,” he said. “The communication factor is huge.”
On Wildwood Hill road flaggers, a traffic control crew of mostly women, have been instrumental in keeping the lines of communications open, said Riczu. Communication is essential not only with the public but also directing equipment on the hill.
“They’ve got the hardest job out here, the flaggers,” he said, explaining how the hill’s blind corners add an additional level of difficulty because all communication among the team has to be done over radio rather than by hand signals.
“You’ve got to trust what you hear on that radio and if one person screws up it could be a mess,” he said. “If they send when they’re not supposed to we could have traffic coming at each other.”
But, for Lisa Johnson, supervisor of the seven flaggers directing traffic on Wildwood Hill, it is all part of the job.
“You’ve got to be a little aggressive on the job, be confident,” said Johnson, who has been a flagger in Powell River for over six years. “If everybody follows the rules it all goes okay.”
Recently coming off a flagging job at Bliss Point in the Bliss Landing area, where she sat with her dog and a picnic lunch, Johnson said the hardest thing to get used to on the Wildwood Hill site has been the constant flow of traffic and equipment.
“Just going all day is the hardest part of my job,” she laughed. “Long days, 10- to 12-hour days. I just go home and put my feet in hot water, then cold, then hot, then cold. Lots of water.”
Still, despite being on her feet all day, and catching occasional grief from an angry driver, Johnson said her experience of being a flagger has been positive.
“We get spoiled rotten out here,” she said. “There’s a couple who brings me a tea and cherry tomatoes from their garden every day because they know they’re my favourite.”
And when the hill gets too tough there’s always public transport, said Johnson.
“I’ve flagged down a city bus, they’ve picked me up and taken me to the top of the hill,” she said. “The drivers and passengers tease me a bit but I get to have a chat with them and get to rest my legs till the top of the hill.
“I wouldn’t do this job anywhere else. I really wouldn’t because we’ve got such a good town here.”
Running ahead of schedule, the resurfacing and widening of Highway 101 between Wildwood Bridge and King Avenue, will be complete by next weekend.
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