It’s gotten to the point where we don’t even report on it anymore every time Cowichan Bay Road is flooded during the winter.
We’ve covered this story for decades, and there have been various fixes tried in that time, to no avail.
We’ve taken photos of herons fishing on the tennis courts at the lawn tennis club, and numerous ‘road closed’ signs on Cowichan Bay Road, not to mention the times rescue workers have had to retrieve people from their stranded vehicles when they’ve inadvisedly ignored those signs and tried to make it through the flooded roadway.
Clearing out log jams on the nearby river helped a bit, but was not a permanent solution.
We’ve been periodically surprised over time that this has not been fixed once and for all. Raising the roadway, of course, is what needs to be done, with serious maintenance work kept on top of so that it doesn’t wash away as the years go by.
But don’t hold your breath.
For our latest story on the subject we contacted the province to find out if they had any plans to do anything about the incessant flooding problem. The answer was categorically no. You see, they don’t see the flooding of Cowichan Bay Road as much of a problem — at least that was certainly the tone of their response to us. Oh, it’s just seasonal flooding, was the reaction.
Yes, yes it is just seasonal flooding. Going back decades. It makes a provincial roadway impassible for much of the winter. This roadway is a major artery in and out of a community. But that’s not a problem?
We were less than impressed with this response. Perhaps it’s time to let the provincial government know just how much frustration there is in the Cowichan Valley about this issue.
Sometimes the wheel does have to squeak, loudly, to get the grease.