Prince George’s Standing Committee on Intergovernmental Relations will consider several new items to advocate for including the road from Quesnel to Hixon, ambulance services and the Yellowhead Highway at its Tuesday, May 6 meeting.
During budget deliberations back in January, city council passed a motion asking for the committee to negotiate the contract for Prince George Fire Rescue handling medical-related calls for service with an aim towards increase local capacity for the BC Ambulance Service.
A report from city staff said a motion from the committee would be required to direct them to start this work.
At the March 25 council meeting, a piece of correspondence was received from the co-presidents of the Quesnel Hixon Road Restoration Association asking for support in lobbying the provincial government for rebuilding and reopening the route, which was damaged and closed after a 2021 landslide.
Last August, the Ministry of Transportation and Transit announced that a 400-metre section of the road, along with the Cottonwood River Canyon Bridge, were being permanently closed.
“After three years of planning under the Cariboo Road Recovery Project, it was found that reopening the road would require hundreds of millions of dollars for new road and bridge construction,” a government media release said. “To ensure public safety and manage taxpayer funds wisely, a decision was made to permanently close this section of the road.”
The road restoration association co-presidents said the route is needed as an alternate route to and from Northern BC when Highway 97 is shut down.
Again, Prince George staff are asking for a resolution if the committee wants them to work on the file.
Also at the March 24 meeting, council received a letter from the Trans Canada Yellowhead Highway Association asking for potential motions to be discussed at its May 23 annual general meeting.
The association is a non-profit group partnering groups in the four provinces serviced by the Yellowhead Highway corridor in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. In BC, the Yellowhead goes along highways 5 and 16.
A report from city staff said that Prince George is not a member of the association, even though Highway 16 goes through it.
If the city is interested in joining, the fee is set at a rate of $.20 per resident as determined by the most recent census. In the 2021 census, the city had a population of 76,708, meaning its membership fee would be $15,341.60.
Staff ask for the committee to pass a motion if they are interested in having the city advocate for an upgrade to the west gate of Jasper National Park or pursue membership in the association.
The final discussion topic on the agenda is discussion over potential motions that could be referred to the Union of BC Municipalities for discussion at its annual conference in September in Victoria.
So far, the committee has directed staff to forward a single motion asking for the province to work on its Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking as it has not been updated since 2013.
The meeting starts at 10 a.m. in the second-floor conference room at Prince George City Hall.
