have been stuck on Highway 19 for almost 3 hours now. Big accident involving a large truck across the highway.
Here is a little preview of a live video that I am still waiting for it to upload. A rant really to make the Railway happen again.
#Nanaimo #VancouverIsland #PortAlberni #Parksville #IslandRailway #Transportation #Stupid
I participated in a Zoom meeting today of the Alberni Clayoquot Regional District Transportation committee. They are looking into creating a new emergency highway route on one of the industrial logging roads out of town with an eye on lobbying/justifying a permanent secondary road.
The Ministry of Transport was making a presentation updating the group on their work to identify and evaluate potential routes.
They identified a total of 7 routes (some overlap).
They are not considering the reactivation of the railway.
When I asked them to expand on whether they had any discussions about the railway, they gave a boilerplate answer about the railway owner (The Regional Districts and First Nations) receiving funding to do their own studies and determine the future of the railway, essentially washing their hands of any direct involvement.
I am so tired of our highway-blindered transportation ministries in this country.
The only good news is there are people on the regional committee that are supportive of taking a more holistic and strategic approach… the bad news is, there have been people like that for decades. If the Ministry and Provincial/Federal politicians don’t care about rail, it won’t ever happen.
#transportation #IslandRailway #bcpoli #canada #canpoli #rail #travel #resilience #emergency #climatechange #bchwy4
So that FOI I have going... today they asked if I was wanting just Ministerial level communications or Deputy and below, "out of scope."
Trying to narrow the search I am sure. So I gave them an out and asked for Minister and Deputy level only.
We'll see if they agree or if they try to claim it'll cost too much.
It's nonsense. I want the records. Give it up.
But, This Is The Way.
#bcPoli #FOI #ACTIA #IslandRailway #climateChange #ClimateAction #Secrecy #transportation
1/ THIS IS HUGE!! Released today!! Focused on freight opportunities, but doesn’t preclude passenger. This is the best railway related BC Gov report I have EVER read in my 18 years with the Island Railway!!
“Primary Study Findings”
a) There are many opportunities for freight rail traffic on Vancouver Island that could be realized with significantly less investment than previous studies have identified."
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/driving-and-transportation/reports-and-reference/reports-and-studies/vancouver-island-south-coast/island-rail-corridor/island-rail-corridor-freight-analysis-appendix-d-2022-12-05.pdf
#bcpoli #islandrailway #portalberni #nanaimo #vancouver #freight
Chris Alemany
Chris Alemany🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇸
VIByRail