Some commuters driving out towards Banff on Jumping Pound Road got a rude awakening Tuesday morning when a construction site caused car troubles. Bhanu Jamwal says he was driving in the area to make his 11 a.m. shift start in Golden, B.C., on Tuesday when he felt both his driver’s side tires go flat after driving over a lip in the road where construction was being done. “I barely pulled over on the side of the road. There was so much traffic, I was barely able to stop on the highway,” Jamwal told CTV News from the side of the road. When pulling into the side of the road, Jamwal said there were already three other cars assessing damage to their own vehicles. Within the next twenty minutes, there were four others who pulled in, all largely with their driver’s side wheels blown out. “If it’s one car, that’s a different story,” Jamwal said, but “eight cars at the same spot, same side flat tires, it’s not a coincidence. Lightning doesn’t strike at one spot multiple times.” Ariel, who didn’t give his last name, also spoke to CTV News from the side of the road. He said he had to rely on the kindness of a stranger who was also stopped by the construction so he could go back home to retrieve his tools and spare winter tire to fix his car. “It’s so frustrating because I drive every day on this highway from Cochrane to Banff and yesterday (the road) wasn’t like that,” Ariel said. “That lip is so sharp, a car with a low-profile tire definitely will (have the tire) explode.” Jamwal and Ariel both said they are missing work and a day of pay due to car trouble. Jamwal’s partner, who left work so she could meet him with his spare tires and tools, is also set to lose out on pay. “It’s frustrating,” Ariel said. “They should put (out) some warnings so no other motorists can be victimized with this lousy construction job.” CTV News reached out to the Carmacks Enterprise, which confirmed they were in charge of the work being done to the road. The project manager directed referred further questions to their client Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors, which said it is reviewing the situation with the contractor. “Anyone who has sustained damage to a vehicle on a provincial highway needs to submit a claim outlining details of the incident. In this case, claims should be directed to the Transportation and Economic Corridors Calgary office (at) TEC.CalgaryAdmin@gov.ab.ca,” a spokesperson said. The spokesperson added the information submitted via email is then passed to the contractor. The contractor will then respond with their position in respect to any claim. The claim form can be found here.
