I live in the Fraser Valley and I travelled to Prince George to visit my father and grandmother. I have been coming to visit family in Prince George for well over 40 years. I was very taken aback this trip to see what a deplorable state the city roads are in. I realize that every spring there are potholes that are evident, but this year they are exceptionally bad.
While all main roads are in bad condition, 15th Avenue is without a doubt, the worst that I have ever seen it - you literally have to dodge holes, ruts and loose asphalt and hope for the best in avoiding the hazards.
My dad advised me that he called the "pothole call centre" to report the condition of 15th Avenue and he was actually advised that he should take an alternate route because the city had no money to fill the holes.
Seriously?
The alternate routes in reality are in no better condition. Isn't road maintenance what the citizens pay their taxes for? Why even have a hotline to report potholes if you are going to get ridiculous responses like that.
In addition to the potholes, I could not believe the serious lack of line painting on all the roads. Pedestrian crosswalks are not marked, stop lines are not marked, lanes are not marked - this is a very serious safety concern. If a pedestrian gets hit in a crosswalk, is the city going to assume responsibility for the accident due to their negligence in properly marking the crosswalks? If a person cuts another driver off while changing lanes, because there are no marked lanes, who is responsible for that? Please do not wait until someone is seriously hurt to address this.
The city has an obligation and a responsibility to act upon this immediately.
I know that my husband and I will think twice about visiting a city that takes such little pride and care in maintaining such basic essentials as road conditions.
Brenda Lamm
Chilliwack
