A 76-kilometre stretch of gravel road that connects Port Alberni and Bamfield Road will be upgraded, the province announced Friday, just ahead of the one-year anniversary of a bus crash on the road that killed two University of Victoria students and injured several others.
The province is contributing $25 million and the Huu-ay-aht First Nations $5 million for the $30-million three-year upgrade to re-engineer and seal-coat the road, and upgrade culverts.
“Today is a sombre reminder of the tragic event, almost a year ago, and so many other tragic events over the years,” said Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser, noting eight First Nations members have also died on the road over the years.
“We needed to do something and I’m standing here to be part of that solution. We cannot undo what has happened, the unfathomable heartbreak for families. But today, we are looking ahead to a safer road that will better protect everyone who travels on it.”
On Sept. 13 last year, a Wilson’s Transportation coach carrying 45 first-year University of Victoria students and two teaching assistants en route to a first-year biology field trip at Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre crashed on Bamfield Main.
Emma MacIntosh Machado, 18, of Winnipeg, and John Geerdes, 18, from Iowa City, Iowa, died in the crash. Many other students were injured.
An RCMP report said the bus was 44 kilometres from Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre at about 7:55 p.m. when it rounded a slight bend in the gravel logging road and pulled over slightly to avoid an approaching Jeep at a point where the road narrows.
The bus tipped off the side of the road and slid on its side down an incline and onto its roof.
Bamfield Main, owned in part by forestry companies, is a “vital link” for residents, tourists, researchers, students and first responders travelling to Bamfield and Anacla from Port Alberni, said Fraser, MLA for Alberni-Pacific Rim.
The province provides funding, largely for gravel, of about $400,000 annually, but the forestry companies are responsible for maintenance. Western Forest Products owns the stretch of road where the crash happened.
In the summer, the gravel road is so dusty, it’s hard to see, and in the winter rain, there are washouts, Fraser said.
The $30-million proposal to chip seal the road — cheaper than paving the entire road — had been awaiting funding approval from the province prior to the UVic crash.
B.C. Premier John Horgan said that as a “born and raised Islander,” he’s been aware of the challenges of the Bamfield Road for a long time, before he got involved in politics.
“And it did take the tragic deaths of two students from away for us to focus not just the government of British Columbia, but the Huu-ay-aht and Western Forest products and other stakeholders, to make sure that that this resource road, which we all know was more than a resource road, had the dollars to make sure that we can keep people safe.”
The project, which Horgan said will include lighting and signage where appropriate, will not only improve safety but provide an economic benefit via tourism for the people of Bamfield, he said.
“I’m hopeful that [the victims’ parents] see some good coming out of the loss of their children, and that the program at UVic can continue, that the marine biology station can continue to help train the next generation of scientists, and that the loss of life was not in vain.”
Huu-ay-aht Chief Robert Dennis Sr., who has lobbied the government to upgrade Bamfield Main for about two decades, said upgrading the road has been a top priority for the First Nation for many years. “We are pleased by today’s announcement,” said Dennis Sr., who was joined by Tayii Ḥaw̓ił ƛiišin (Hereditary Chief Derek Peters).
“By working in a respectful way with Huu-ay-aht to make upgrades to the Bamfield Road a reality, we see that the province is ready to work on true reconciliation with First Nations and is honouring the importance of the safety of our community,” said Dennis Sr.
Both Ethel MacIntosh and Jose Machado, parents of Emma, and Mary Murphy and Gregg Geerdes, parents of John, had cited the inadequacy of Bamfield Road in their letters appealing to the B.C. government to fund the improvements long requested by the Huu-ay-aht First Nations.
“These inadequacies and safety concerns were well known before the UVic accident which has devastated our family,” wrote MacIntosh. “The necessary funding required to address the safety of and improve the road conditions must be approved.
Fraser said he called the families on Thursday about the road improvements.
MacIntosh said she appreciated the call and the commitment to upgrade the road, although she said that as a parent, she still feels guilt about what more she could have done to prevent her daughter’s death.
“It just made me feel like we were somehow negligent, that we didn’t realize how dangerous it was, that we didn’t warn Emma,” said MacIntosh, through tears.
MacIntosh said it was only a “matter of time” before a multiple-fatal crash occurred on the road. “I think it’s good that they’re going to fix the road,” she said. “I think that’s good for the community that relies on that road and other people who go out there and we want people to be able to go to Bamfield.”
On Friday, Murphy said she and her husband and her son’s siblings “are pleased the government plans to upgrade the road in co-operation with the Huu-ay-aht First Nations, and we thank those involved in ensuring the improvements are made.
“John and Emma were remarkable young people with tremendous potential. John lived a big life in his too short time on this earth and when he flashed a smile in your direction, which was often, he enveloped you in his joy of life.”
Student Sarah Hunter, who sat in the seat behind Emma and John, started a petition for road improvements that was signed by more than 20,000 people. Hunter said she’s pleased the government will upgrade the road and hopes her petition played a role in applying pressure.
Hunter, who received few physical injuries but sees a counsellor regularly to cope with the trauma from the crash, said she thinks of Emma and John whenever she sees something beautiful in nature, as if she has a duty to experience if for them knowing they would likely enjoy it, too.
An independent report by Ross Cloutier of Kamloops- based Bhudak Consultants Ltd., an expert in outdoor-related risk management, for the University of Victoria was released in June and made 43 recommendations.
As a result, the university made several changes to its field-trip policies, including transporting students only during daylight, ensuring itineraries are predetermined, requiring wearing of seatbelts along with a working two-way satellite communications device and adequate first aid equipment, and ensuring on-board staff enforce all rules. The university has pledged to fulfill all of the recommendations.
The university also pledged to advocate for improvements to Bamfield Road, along with the Huu-ay-aht First Nations and the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, noting it was identified as a priority by parents.
In a letter to B.C.’s Indigenous Relations minister, MacIntosh said while the announced improvements to Bamfield Main will not bring back her daughter, there is some comfort that the loss of Emma has contributed to a safer route for others.
“She and John did not even reach Bamfield,” said MacIntosh. “Others should be able to experience the beauty of that area with the expectation that they can do so in relative safety.”
