Highway and railway closures caused by severe storms in British Columbia will have a significant and lasting impact on the province91裸聊视频檚 economy, the president of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce says.
Fiona Famulak said industries across the supply chain will be affected and is calling on all levels of government to act with urgency to allocate the resources needed to replace the lost infrastructure.
91裸聊视频淲e need to move from response to recovery very quickly,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淲e cannot be complacent. We need our trade corridors to be reopened and the movement of people, goods and services to be re-established as soon as possible.91裸聊视频�
All major highways between B.C.91裸聊视频檚 Lower Mainland and the Interior were severed, some in several locations, when record rainfall washed away bridges and roads over a 24-hour period starting Sunday.
Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said Highway 3 is likely to be the quickest route to reopen, possibly by the end of the weekend, but damage to Highway 1 and the Coquihalla Highway is so extreme that geotechnical assessments won91裸聊视频檛 be possible until conditions are drier.
He said Highway 7 west of Agassiz reopened Tuesday to emergency vehicles only to allow stranded passengers to be taken out of the area. Maintenance contractors are gathering heavy equipment to begin rebuilding roads when they can safely do so.
91裸聊视频淥ur number 1 priority is getting our roadways back up and in operation, and we will provide whatever resources are necessary to make that happen,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淲e fully recognize how important it is right now in British Columbia to reopen the road connections from the Lower Mainland to the Interior to get supply chains moving again.91裸聊视频�
Following reports of food shortages and hoarding at grocery stores, Canadian food retailer Save-On-Foods said in a statement that all shipments in and out of the Lower Mainland have been put on hold due to road conditions.
91裸聊视频淲e are exploring all avenues to get product to our stores as quickly as possible,91裸聊视频� it said.
When asked about the buying panic at a news conference Tuesday, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth encouraged B.C. residents to be patient, saying there are alternative solutions to transport food and there is 91裸聊视频渓ots of supply.91裸聊视频�
B.C. Trucking Association President Dave Earle said hundreds of truck drivers were unable to finish their routes due to the highway closures, but none reported being injured as a result of the flooding or landslides.
91裸聊视频淢onday was all about protection of life and now we are focused on assessment, and clearly there91裸聊视频檚 serious infrastructure damage on at least two of our four main routes,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淲e have hundreds of commercial vehicles stuck and we91裸聊视频檙e all waiting to see how we can unwind this knot.91裸聊视频�
David Gillen, the director for the centre for transportation studies at the University of British Columbia, estimates it will take about two weeks for repairs to allow normal traffic flow to resume, but it will be months for a complete recovery because road work is limited during winter months.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 going to take some time until these routes are repaired enough for trucks to travel but there is some degree of substitutability that there isn91裸聊视频檛 with railroads because you basically have two main lines and they91裸聊视频檙e both severely hampered. They have to be rebuilt,91裸聊视频� Gillen said.
Canada91裸聊视频檚 two largest railways said they expect it will take another couple of days before their main lines in southern B.C. reopen. Canadian National Railway chief operating officer Rob Reilly said heavy rain made the tracks impassable.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檝e had the railroad out of service getting to Vancouver since Sunday afternoon. Quite frankly, we91裸聊视频檒l probably be out a couple more days,91裸聊视频� Reilly told a transportation conference Tuesday.
The track outages are also hindering the movement of goods to and from the country91裸聊视频檚 largest port in Vancouver.
Barry Prentice, a supply chain management professor at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, said importing and exporting at B.C. ports poses a significant problem should highways and railways remain inoperable.
91裸聊视频淭ransportation is an invisible industry until something goes wrong,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淲e take it for granted more than we should as a society because without transportation we don91裸聊视频檛 have trade, and without trade we don91裸聊视频檛 have an economy.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频擝rieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press
