Repairs coming to only road to small Vancouver Island village

Residents concerned about potholes on a road that leads to Tahsis, B.C., took matters into their own hands and began filling them. (Jack Taylor)

The B.C. Ministry of Transportation has promised to fund repairs for a forestry road that serves as the only way in and out of a small North Vancouver Island village.

The repairs are coming to the Head Bay Forest Service Road, which links the Village of Tahsis, B.C., to the municipality of Gold River.

Tahsis is located on the northwestern coast of Vancouver Island, and residents have long voiced concern over the state of the road, which they say is littered with potholes and is the only access to and from their community.

"We actually refer to them as craters, not potholes, because they are getting pretty big and numerous," said resident Jack Taylor in February.

"There isn’t a space on the road that you can travel to get out of them and if you slow down when you’re going through them they’re actually really gut-wrenching," he said.

About a dozen Tahsis residents took matters into their own hands in February and decided to use gravel and shovels to fill the potholes themselves.

On Monday, the province said it would begin road resurfacing, chip-sealing, and general rehabilitation this summer.

Eleven culverts on the Head Bay Forest Service Road will also be replaced, according to the Ministry of Transportation.

The province plans to open a tender for the chip-sealing work "in the coming weeks," and work on that will begin once a contract is awarded.

The project is expected to complete by this fall. During construction, drivers should expect single-lane alternating traffic, according to the province.

"While forest service roads fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Forests, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure maintains this road to ensure Tahsis residents continue to have reliable and safe road access outside their community," said the province Monday.