Mount Belcher Paving Project

08/17/2023

Perhaps we should awaken this page. The road is as bad as ever at this time of year. Just letting you know https://www.facebook.com/TranBC

Page operates during business hours Mon-Fri. Latest road conditions via DriveBC.ca ( Twitter)

06/01/2022

A big thanks to Emcon Services inc for finally getting started the promised "improvements" on upper MBH as the road has seriously deteriorated over the winter and has been continuing to get worse during the spring. If BC Transportation and Infrastructure could get their mind set on the long term and pave upper MBH, all would be good...

04/01/2022

A message for BC Transportation and Infrastructure, who should pave Mount Belcher Heights:

03/01/2022

"Don't Look Up" must be the motto of BC Transportation and Infrastructure who can't see the potholed, mudslide, corrugated mess that is upper Mount Belcher Heights! MBH residents have to look up and drive through this mess everytime we return home. Paving upper MBH will solve these problems...

02/23/2022

The new gravel fields on upper MBH, where the lack of maintenance has allowed water to erode gravel from the road surface and deposit it in the woods The first image shows gravel that has washed 6 or 7 metres into the woods! This would be avoided if BC Transportation and Infrastructure would pave upper Mount Belcher Heights...

02/16/2022

Finally, we know the answer: WE ARE NOT ALONE!

Frustrated with what they say is a horrific logging road constantly speckled with potholes, residents of the Village of Tahsis grabbed shovels and buckets and started fixing it themselves Monday.

02/14/2022

We like a road with two ditches for good drainage, but not two on the same side of the road! This has occurred where the road surface has worn down below the level of water in the existing ditch and is another example of why BC Transportation and Infrastructure should pave upper Mount Belcher Heights...

02/12/2022

Horizontal ruts that run across upper MBH have formed in the slime. These aren't just washboard or corrugation - they will hold a car stationary on a hill. Great if your parking brake fails! Not so much for driving over. This is why we need BC Transportation and Infrastructure to pave upper Mount Belcher Heights...

02/10/2022

The mud hole at the top of Mount Belcher Heights - best not to drive through that. Doesn't look like much here, but it'll swallow the wheels of a small car! We are still waiting to hear what the BC Transportation and Infrastructure staff are planning...

01/21/2022

To Whom it May Concern: We have found your mobile ballistic missile launcher on the cul-de-sac, Mount Belcher Heights. We are concerned that you are making us a target for retaliation by hostile forces and would like it removed immediately. When you leave, please dig out the gravel from the ditch that you have squashed in as we are hoping to have BC Transportation and Infrastructure pave upper MBH, and we want it tidy for their inspection...

01/19/2022

Breaking News: BC Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Rob Fleming, wrote today that "Ministry staff will plan improvements to Mount Belcher Heights Road with our local maintenance contractor, Emcon Services. These improvements will be completed in summer 2022." We don't yet know what those improvements entail, but residents of upper MBH want to thank Mr. Fleming for his attention to this matter, and will work with BC Transportation and Infrastructure staff to ensure they understand that upper Mount Belcher Heights needs paving.

In a related development, the Mud Wallow at the cul de sac on upper MBH is now officially "axle deep..."

01/18/2022

Alien Abduction? Relax, it's our neighbors. On upper MBH. In the freezing rain. In the dark. Before the big snow storm. They described upper MBH as "a luge run" - sheet ice. Nothing would stop this freezing over, but paving upper Mount Belcher Heights by BC Transportation and Infrastructure would allow application of salt to melt ice and snow faster...

01/13/2022

Yesterday, we asked the SSI Road & Ferry (and boil water advisories) Report users what they thought of Salt Spring Roads. Admittedly old song lyrics don't make a scientifically valid poll, but the results as of 1:00PM when asked about SSI roads, a large majority of 45 users chose “You give love a bad name”! 11 other voters chose “Still the same” or “Getting better all the time”. It could be that Bon Jovi is just more popular than Bob Seger or The Beatles, but we here at MBPP will continue to tell BC Transportation and Infrastructure that Mount Belcher Heights needs paving...

01/09/2022

Another tip of the hat to Emcon Services inc. Our neighborhood night-owl tells us Emcon was plowing upper MBH at 01:00 hours on Friday morning! There is a predominantly senior population on the hill, and when it snows, we wonder if emergency services will be able to respond in a timely manner. That's why BC Transportation and Infrastructure should pave upper Mount Belcher Heights, allowing sanding, salting and preventing the bobsled run you see here!

01/05/2022

Here on upper Mount Belcher Heights, the white theme continues! Mother Nature has done her own paving by dumping snow, then freezing and making a nice solid, but slippery, road surface. If only this could last all year we wouldn't need BC Transportation and Infrastructure to pave Mount Belcher Heights!

12/24/2021

A Christmas Red, 1964 Ferrari 250 GTO. Sold as a competition GT car from 1962 - 1964, its notable (besides the fact that it sold new for US $18,000 and the best used sale to date was for $70 Million USD) in that only 36 were made, no two were the same, and it was the last front engine Ferrari built exclusively for racing. Unfortunately, the residents on Mount Belcher Heights can't drive cars like this (even if we could afford them) because upper Mount Belcher Heights needs paving and Transportation and Infrastructure isn't listening.

Best of the Season to all...

12/23/2021

A tip of the hat to https://www.emconservices.ca/area-1.html who were out in the dark on upper Mount Belcher Heights, in foul weather, filling these potholes. We took these pics in November, but they were 3 times as bad by the time they were filled. We'll track how long it takes before refilling is required. BC Transportation and Infrastructure has received our request and 39 signatures for paving upper Mount Belcher Heights - but they have yet to acknowledge us...

12/18/2021

We've seen potholes that you can drop a wheel into, and they are no fun. Now we have a pothole that is just about wide enought to swallow a car, and it's pretty deep too. Mount Belcher Heights needs to be paved. Soon!

12/11/2021

These two are going to race for the Formula 1 championship tomorrow. They are tied in points going into the last race of the season. The winner takes it all and is considered the greatest driver in the world. What else do they have in common? They would both find that Mount Belcher Heights needs paving!

12/05/2021

We had our first snow today on Mount Belcher and there are some who say it's going to be a long cold winter. In that case, we will get a lot of visits from the snowplow, which will cast some of the road surface onto the side of the road, where it will either cause rivers on the road, or might be washed down into the watershed. We can prevent this by having Mt. Belcher Heights paved...

12/02/2021

Sink holes are not a good thing, and we've had at least one on Mount Belcher Heights, Salt Spring Island. It's been filled, but there's probably more given the soft spots, potholes, and water that's been flowing down MBH. We want MOTI to pave our road...

11/30/2021

11/28/2021

Upper Mt. Belcher is an upland rural community and our road, Mount Belcher Heights, is a problem. Erosion is occurring at the side of the road as a result of the November rain storms this year. This sends gravel and silt down the road and, in places, off the side and into where it should not go.

11/27/2021

Mount Belcher Heights is considered a rural road and hasn't been maintained beyond occasional grading. We at MBPP believe it should be improved with a paved surface. Traffic is heavy enough that Google caught a commercial vehicle coming down the unpaved hill. Isn't it a pretty road in the sunshine?

11/27/2021

And so it began: A neighborhood meeting, a side conversation and action. A letter was drafted with feedback sought from all residents of Mount Belcher Heights (MBH). In short order 39 residents of the 22 properties on MBH had signed the letter and by late October 2021 the letter and signatures were in the hands of the British Columbia Minister of Transport and Infrastructure (MOTI), the elected official responsible for the roads of Salt Spring Island. Additional copies went to our Member of the Legislative Assembly, and staff at MOTI. As of November 28. no response had been received from any party, although we understand that MOTI has a lot on their plate right now...

11/26/2021

Welcome to the Mount Belcher Paving Project, a community action initiative to upgrade the roadway used by the residents of the upper portion of Mount Belcher Heights, Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada. We are an upland community that has been growing steadily. Mount Belcher Heights is a road that was once gravel, but without maintenance beyond intermittent grading, the road has lost it's crown (the high point in the centre of the road). Instead of running to the side of the road, water now runs down the length of the road, washing gravel and silt into the local waterways and storm sewers. It also waterlogs the road bed, whcih becomes slimy mud, that can activate anti-lock braking systems even at low speeds. Not to mention the formation of potholes and "washboard". A recent petition (Oct 22) to the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure (the road manager for Salt Spring) has not yet been acknowledged, in spite of the 38 signatures raised from the 22 residents along the road in question. The purpose of this page is to ensure that those responsible for prioritization and expenditure of funds for road improvements on Salt Spring Island, don't neglect us.