Honourable Mike Farnworth, Minister of Transportation and Transit (TT.Minister@gov.bc.ca),

I support the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities request that British Columbia prioritizes funding the minimum required upgrades to the West to East section of the Island Corridor to allow for its use in the event of a wildfire or highway closure.

As you may or may not recall, last year the BC Ministry responsible for Transportation said that an alternate highway route to the Alberni Valley was not feasible despite the severe impacts to the region when highway 4 was closed for weeks due to wildfires and the economic loss of over $60 million in 2023.

The Alberni Valley has felt the sting of having only one highway in and out of the region.  After having contractors and consultants conduct analysis of the railway using the funds provided by the BC Government in 2023, they put forward a  resolution to the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) to urge the BC Government to fund upgrades to the Alberni Subdivision of the Island Corridor for emergency preparedness. That resolution was accepted!

Please send an email in support of this request to the BC Minister of Transportation and Transit like the one at the beginning of this email.

As always my heart goes out to you and yours for supporting such an important cause for our tomorrow, and our children and their descendant's future. 

Petitioner,
Warren Skaalrud
https://restoreislandrail.com