Mainroad South Island Contracting LP is responsible for the maintenance of British Columbia’s provincial highways and roads including 3,615 lane kilometers of roadway on South Vancouver Island from Chemainus in the North end to Victoria including roads to Port Renfrew, Lake Cowichan, Sooke and all of the roads on the six Southern Gulf Islands. Mainroad has maintained a presence on Vancouver Island since 1995 and is currently responsible for servicing the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure’s ten year contract for Service Area 1 assigned in September 2004.

The headquarters and primary works yard for Mainroad South Island Contracting is located in Langford with supporting works yards in North Duncan, Sooke, Cobble Hill, and the Gulf Islands of Galiano, Mayne, Pender, Salt Spring, Thetis, and Saturna.

While this region generally enjoys a more moderate coastal climate, it is susceptible to seasonal wind, rain and snow storms. One important and challenging area in particular is the Malahat section of Highway #1 just north of Victoria – the main link for Island traffic north and south with significant elevation change. Mainroad installed Malahat’s Weather Station near the summit and can access real time data from the site to forecast weather and road conditions and to prepare equipment and crews in advance of road conditions that can change rapidly.

Other maintenance challenges in the region include:

• Efficient allocation of equipment to diverse and remote areas
• Ferry terminals
• Heavy and high speed traffic routes
• Landslides in areas of heavy precipitation
• Large and different stakeholder groups
• Varying types of road surfaces throughout the contract area

Mainroad South Island Contracting shares the same geographic region as our heavy equipment and civil construction company G&E Contracting LP, Raylec Power LP, SPR Traffic Services LP, as well as salt depots for Mainroad Maintenance Products. Mainroad South Island Contracting LP is COR certified by the BC Construction Safety Alliance.

General Information/Fast Facts

Highway maintenance by the numbers:

• 3,615 lane kilometers
• Over 40+ pieces of snow removal equipment
• Up to 80+ employees during winter operations
• 8,000+/- tonnes of winter sand
• 4,000 tonnes of salt in 10 service locations
• 1 million litres of anti-icing brine used annually
• 201 bridge structures
• 10 service yards
• At last count 144,000+ signs

During the summer season, South Island crews conduct a number of maintenance activities throughout the service area such as:

• chip sealing and spray patching
• ditching
• grading and dust control
• highway cleaning
• major crack sealing
• mowing of vegetation and landscape maintenance
• paving
• roadside barrier repairs
• sign maintenance
• various bridge maintenance and inspections

“Your roads — your team, linking communities and families.”