Vehicle Incident closes Highway 16 near Exstew

Update: The Highway has been reopened to traffic, with single lane alternating traffic now passing through the incident site. The Ministry of Transportation advises of delays of up to 20 minutes.

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Travel is on hold between Prince Rupert and Terrace this morning after the Highway was Closed near Exstew owing to a vehicle incident. 

Few details were released related to the situation 30 kilometres west of Terrace, which took place sometime before 6AM

An assessment is underway with the next update scheduled for 9AM.

Further information as the morning progresses can be found through the Drive BC website and twitter feed.

Notes on previous transportation themes can be explored from our archive page.

Spotlight Shines on 'Lighten Up Electric' as Northern Savings Business of the month

The selection panel at Northern Savings Credit Union have put a local contractor in the spotlight this  month as part of their Business of the Month feature.

With a review of Lighten UP Electric set to  spark some interest for  the local community from the latest salute to the commercial sector from the Prince Rupert based financial Institution. 

The Northern Savings update provides a glimpse of the work of the Saskatoon Avenue Business located in the city's Yellowed Industrial park area. 

As well as to highlight the large area of the Northwest where the staff are dispatched to for jobs. 

A service territory that includes, Prince Rupert, Haida Gwaii, Port Edward, Kitkatla, Metlakatla, Lax K’walaams, Hartley Bay and Terrace. 

This month's feature makes note of the various services provided by Lighten Up Electric, ranging from  Commercial, Residential and Industrial jobs.

As the highlight business for this month, Kevin and Renee Pottle, the owners of Lighten UP Electric will get additional exposure for their commercial operation as well as some helpful advice from the Northern Savings commercial office.

Included in the Business of the Month package:

Minimum of two Social Media posts during the month showcasing your unique business 

Giveaway (valued at $100) via Northern Savings’ Facebook page (e.g.$100 gift certificate to your business, or a discount offered to your customers) 

One coffee break for your employees, consisting of Northern Savings providing coffee and a snack for your staff one time during the month 

Information about your business on the Northern Savings website and displayed on theirr in-branch digital displays A business health check-up – accessing lending, wealth management, and insurance experts to ensure your business is where you want it to be.

You can learn more about the program here.

To find out what's happening at lighten UP Electric see their Facebook page here. 

For more items of note on the city's commercial sector see our archive page here.

Gas prices hover just under the Two Dollar a litre mark in Prince Rupert

 

Sign of our times ...
Gas nears the 2 dollar a litre mark in Prince Rupert

The last holdout for a bit of relief at the pumps joined the club of rising prices this morning, with the Esso at 7-11, posting the 1.99.9 price point, making for the last of the city's gas stations to push the 2 dollar per litre barrier as prices continue to spike in the wake of uncertainty in oil markets.

The 1.99.9 price point today a far cry (and maybe a reason to cry) for motorists since just November, when gas prices were somewhat less mercurial and pain inflicting on the credit card.

The path forward for prices at the pump is still somewhat unknown, though a bit of relief may come in the next week or so, that as the prince of Oil on Global markets shows a range of reactions to the current situation.

Some American and British indexes indicating a  drop in the price per barrel as additional supplies are opened up around the world, while Canadian indexes continued to show an increase for the moment.

A look at some of the turmoil in energy can be found from the BNNBloomberg website.

A review of recent gas pricing in Prince Rupert can be explored from our Commercial Sector Archive.

On both sides of the A/B line, the return of AMHS service to Prince Rupert has been well received

This weeks announcement that the Alaska Marine Highway System will resume its sailings to Prince Rupert has been welcomed from those on both sides of the BC/Alaska border, with community officials, residents and travellers all clearly happy to see the reconnect between the North Coast and Southeast Alaska set to take place when the end of June comes around.

Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain, has not had much to share on the topic in recent months, made a brief mention of the announcement through his Social Media stream on Monday.  The Mayor speaking to themes of collaboration across the border since the last sailing of October 2019.

The Mayor's social media stream is also providing for a few views from area residents at word of the resumption for service.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities social media feed has also found a positive response to the news, with over 30 comments delivered to this point to their update. 

Though  a few contributors note of their desire for more frequent service that the twice a month schedule will provide to start with.

Alaska State Representative Dan Ortiz was one of a number of advocates for a return to service in the state, he also had comment on Monday with the announcement. 

Though as he observed for Alaska Public Radio this week, he had he had been hoping for an earlier start date for the service resumption.

As we outlined on Monday, the Service will resume with a June 20th transit from Ketchikan to Prince Rupert, with twice a month sailings on the schedule through to September.

More notes on Marine transportation on the North Coast can be reviewed from our archive page.

Tournament Tip Off beckons this afternoon for Charles Hays Rainmakers

The final journey together for some of the members of the Charles Hays Senior Boys Basketball team is underway, the team having left Prince Rupert at the start of the week for their defence of their 2020 Provincials Championship.

A one year gap owing to COVID making for some changes to a roster that had much success two years ago and has hopes for another banner for the Charles Hays Gymnasium by early Saturday evening.

There is however a lot of basketball to be played between now and then and one mis-step or a matchup with a hot team could lay waste to all those plans. 

The first test to the Tournament blue print for Mel and Ryan Bishop comes this afternoon at 3:30, when the Rainmakers take on Windsor Dukes from North Vancouver.

The Lower Mainland team is a fixture at tournaments across the Vancouver area and beyond, so having  had opportunity to gain some extensive competition for  2021-22 has been a much easier task for their coaches than what has faced the Prince Rupert tandem. 

That with the past COVID precautions making for a challenge to try and find enough competitors within a reasonable travel range to keep the  Rainmakers sharp and to develop their skills.

As we have noted previous, the Rainmakers come into the tournament on a winning note with a sweep of the Northwest Zones last weekend, a performance that saw them rise in the Provincial rankings and provided them with the sixth place seed in the Provincial tournament.

This years tournament marks the final appearance for Rainmakers Head Coach Mel Bishop who will step aside from the sidelines following the end of the 2022 run for the Provincial banner, a milestone that is sure to be noted by AA Tournament officials and those in attendance at the Langley Events Centre.

North Coast Hoops fans can follow their progress at Provincials through a Pay Per View Live Stream from the AA Provincial site, with a day pass and tournament pass price options available.

The popular sports resource Varsity Letters will also have extensive coverage of all of the Provincial tournaments taking place at the Langley Events Centre this week, you can access those themes here.

As the week moves forward we'll also keep up on the travels of the Senior Boys, you can review those notes and what have been posted previous from our archive page here.

Expansive Transportation planning the Focus for City of Prince Rupert with call for bids for Master Transportation Plan

Transportation across Prince Rupert is the focus for the city's latest
Call for Proposals at BC Bid
(photo from City of PR sources)

The City of Prince Rupert is surely in the running to be the Top provider of Bids for the BC Bid website for the last month, with the City currently featuring eight different calls for Bids or proposals on the provincial listings portal.

All of them providing for an indication as to how much City staff has on the go at the moment as they move forward on a range of projects and initiatives.

The most recent call for proposals was posted on Tuesday,  and sets the course ahead for the City's work towards Transportation planning, with the Call for Bids issued for a proponent to deliver a Master Transportation plan for Prince Rupert.

The details towards the work for the proponent make for a pretty comprehensive list of what are the main areas of note for the city when it comes to the future of Transportation for the community.

The latest initiative is described by the City's planning department as a strategic vision that will guide the City's Transportation and land use decisions, along with public investments over the next five to ten years. 

Among some of the areas the City is seeking to have included in the project:

Promote modal interconnectivity; thereby providing safe and direct options for people and goods to get to key destinations. 

Promote active transportation; thereby maximizing efficiencies and contributing to the health of the community and the environment. 

Promote public transit and taxis/ride-hailing; thereby maximizing efficiencies and contributing to the health of the environment. 

Promote accessibility; thereby enabling people of all ages and abilities to reach and interact with destinations. 

Promote complete streets; thereby providing safe, convenient, and comfortable travel and access to destinations for all regardless of preferred mode(s) of transportation. 

Promote green streets; thereby contributing to the character of neighbourhoods whilst ensuring integration with storm sewers. 

Promote traffic calming; thereby contributing to the safety of neighbourhoods and preserving the character of neighbourhoods. 

Promote safe and efficient intersections; thereby contributing to the safety of neighbourhoods and maximizing efficiencies. 

Promote cohesive wayfinding; thereby contributing to a sense of place in the various districts of the City as well as the entire City. 

Promote electric vehicle charging infrastructure; thereby accommodating the expected increase in electric vehicles. 

Promote coordination of major road works and infrastructure improvements; thereby maximizing efficiencies.

In addition to those goals for the Transportation Plan, the documentation toward the bid also makes note of a number of transportation projects that the City currently states as necessary.

Among those are:

Fairview-Ridley Industrial Site Connector Road

New airport ferry landing at Harbour Landing Park at the foot of Bill Murray Drive. 

New ferry to Gitxaala. 

Wantage Road Bypass.

Extension of Cow Bay Road along the proposed new pubic wharf to Bill Murray Drive. 

Traffic calming on 2nd Avenue. 

Roundabout at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and McBride Street. 

Downtown road network and parking strategy. 

Extension of 3rd Avenue to George Hills Way and the Marina District. 

New local roads to serve the Marina District. 

Assessment of a potential extension of 5th Avenue to George Hills Way.  

Road condition assessment

The budget for the Master Transportation Plan is listed at $100,000 with a one year process ahead towards delivery of the Master Transportation Plan Document and presentation of the findings for City Council.

For proponents looking to take on the initiative, the deadline to submit Proposals to the City is  2 PM on April 18th 2022.

One of the City's recently hired planners, Daniel Rajasooriar is the contact person at City Hall for the Master Transportation Plan work.

The full overview and documentation from the City is available on the BC Bid website.

You can review some background to previous City of Prince Rupert calls for Bids and Proposal from our archive page here.

Some of Prince Rupert Council's past discussions on themes of Transportation and infrastructure can be reviewed from our archive here.

Planning continues for return of the Cruise ships to Prince Rupert, though volume of calls to come still unknown

Only a few more months to go before Prince Rupert could
see the first cruise ship since 2019 at the Northland Terminal

The Government of Canada has outlined the procedures they have put in place towards a return to British Columbia ports for the Cruise Ship Industry for 2022.

The announcement was released on Monday and features a range of COVID related requirements for both crew and travellers for their arrival at a Canadian Port.

Crew and passengers being required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19

Crew and passengers being required to self-monitor for symptoms 

Passengers being required to take a COVID-19 molecular test within 72-hours before boarding a cruise ship OR take an antigen test within one day of boarding a cruise ship

Passengers being required to take a COVID-19 molecular test within 72-hours before arriving in Canada or taking an antigen test within one day of the scheduled arrival.

The actual lifting of the prohibition on Cruise Ships in Canadian waters was announced back in November of 2021.

The new guidelines were released this week with the anticipation for the 2022 season starting to build.

“As Canadians continue to do their part by stepping up and rolling up their sleeves to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and practising public health measures, our government continues to work hard to restart our economy safely and sustainably. We welcome cruise ships—an important part of our tourism sector—back to Canada, and we will continue working with partners to support this important industry. -- Omar Alghabra Minister of Transport

More on the Federal measures can be reviewed here.

The Sebaourn Sojourn at dock at Northland Terminal in
October of 2019, it would be the last port call in Prince Rupert
as COVID brought a close to Canadian ports for 2020 and 2021

In Prince Rupert, the Prince Rupert Port Authority, along with cruise industry stakeholders and partners are making plans for the year ahead, with Katherine Voigt, Manager of Communications for the PRPA providing a snap shot for us of the work to date for the return.

The Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) is pleased that the cruise industry, the Government of Canada, and a variety of stakeholders have been able to work together to ensure we can safely welcome back cruise visitors to Prince Rupert this summer as part of the recovery of our tourism industry from the last two years. 

PRPA has been actively participating on the Association of Canadian Port Authorities (ACPA) cruise committee throughout this time; a committee that has played a crucial role in planning for the safe resumption of cruise in Canada. 

The conditions that have been outlined to prevent and manage COVID-19 on cruise ships and at Canadian ports are significant and have been proven effective in other regions. 

As to how many ships we may see at the Northland Terminal  the details have yet to be finalized, though Ms. Voigt does note that the first sighting in Prince Rupert harbour should come towards the end of May

Prince Rupert will have cruise vessels call this season and we anticipate the first vessel will arrive in late May. PRPA is currently working to finalize the schedule so that we can communicate these details to local shore excursion operators, the public, and the business community as soon as possible.

Northland Terminal last welcomed a cruise ship in October of 2019 with the Port providing a farewell and see you soon at the time to the Seabourn Sojourn and the many stakeholders and volunteers that make for the local industry.

By the flip of the calendar to 2020 all of that would change as the Federal Government closed all BC and Canadian ports to Cruise Ship traffic in response to the arrival of COVID in 2020.

Last year, the American government announced a return for the Alaska Cruise Industry, allowing cruise ships to bypass Canadian ports on their transit between Washington State and the Alaska Cruise destinations.

American President Joe Biden in May of 2021 signing into law
a bill that allowed a bypass of British Columbia ports for the Alaska 
Cruise Industry

That shift in American policy is still in place with some Alaskan politicians in particular keen to make it permanent. 

So it will be worth watching to see how many Cruise lines continue that policy of a Bypass of British Columbia port calls.  

The stakes are high for the local industry which as noted above saw 28 port calls and 11,400 visitors in 2019, with the question ahead one as to whether the passenger volumes will  return to that mark, or if there is more work required once again to rebuild the industry footprint on the North Coast.

Key to that success will be if the Canadian decisions of 2021 and Alaskan attitudes towards it have any lasting impact on the local industry expectations.

Once the schedule is released we'll provide a link to the listings and explore the prospects for the 2022 Cruise season for Prince Rupert. 

You can follow along for the latest notes on the Cruise Season ahead through our archive page.