Emcon Services personnel have received short-notice approval to undertake improvement work on one of Salt Spring Island’s roughest public-access roadways, and a notorious stretch of Mount Maxwell Road will be closed for two weeks while crews improve both the surface and drainage situation there.
Emcon’s South Island region operations manager Andrew Gaetz said Friday crews would begin work on the improvements Monday, March 3, and the road to Mount Maxwell Provincial Park will be closed on weekdays until March 14.
Improvements will be targeted between the North Salt Spring Waterworks District gate and the park boundary, Gaetz said, with a focus to “restore a drivable road surface for the public” and improve roadside drainage so water can flow off and return to the surrounding forest.
That section of the road leading to the popular park –– and in particular a rocky step known locally as “Big Bertha” –– received public attention last spring, as Salt Spring Island Search and Rescue (SSISAR) was called out to assist an injured person hurt near one of the unofficial rock-climbing routes in the park.
The man had a significant leg injury, according to rescuers, who mounted a difficult evacuation that included an hour-long carry-out in a basket stretcher and two separate rope assists on steeper, more technical sections of the trails.
And while transport from the parking lot near the scenic outlook would usually be via BC Ambulance, during this rescue the ambulance was unable to navigate “Big Bertha,” requiring the victim be carried in SSISAR’s equipment vehicle down to a staging area near Maxwell Lake before paramedics could bring him to the hospital for further care.
Ministry officials had said shortly after the event there were no current plans to upgrade the road, given the “challenging natural terrain” and its location on an ecological reserve.
Gaetz said crews will roughen the exposed bedrock by hydraulic hammer, which should allow materials to bind more securely; the road base will be rebuilt “properly,” he said, and raised to reduce the grade in that steep section.
“This should reduce the number of vehicles which lose traction and spin their tires as they ascend the hill,” Gaetz said, reducing the amount of material lost and making the “fix” last longer.
The hydraulic hammer will also be used to construct strategically placed ditches, he added, to prevent runoff from crossing roadways and scouring away that material. The ditches will be channelled into the forest to return it to groundwater. Many of the channels already exist, Gaetz said, and crews will repair them where possible and add new ones if necessary.
Gaetz said the information regarding the closure had been posted to drivebc.ca.