Calls for province to take over detour route between Youbou and Bamfield, citing safety concerns

It’s a pothole-ridden, dusty stretch of road that can be frustratingly slow to navigate, but the Youbou-Bamfield route has once again become a lifeline and detour route for three communities on Vancouver Island’s west coast that have been cut off by the Mount Underwood wildfire just outside Port Alberni.

Judith Sayers is the president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council and says the road is in no condition to be driven.

“What it is, is a logging road, and a very poor-conditioned logging road,” said Sayers.

She says over a recent 24-hour period, there were 17 flat tires reported on the road, which is owned by three different logging companies as well as the province.

For the Ditidhat First Nation, whose lands the road runs through, it has always been the only option in and out of the community.

“It’s horrendous, it is absolutely horrendous,” said Chief Coun. Judi Thomas of the Ditidaht First Nation. “We have dealt with those road conditions for decades.”

Thomas says when the Underwood fire broke out on Aug. 11, traffic along the corridor increased. The potholes became worse, and on day five of the blaze, the Ditidhat First Nation applied to the province for funding to grade the road. That request was denied.

On Thursday, after a lot of back and forth between the province and the First Nation, the request was finally approved, but only for seven days’ worth of funding.

“That road really needs to become a provincially designated road,” said Thomas.

John Mass has lived in neighbouring Bamfield for 30 years and knows how terrible the road can become when not maintained properly. He agrees that something needs to be done in order to keep the corridor in better shape.

“Something like the fire or any other catastrophe, it’s very vital to have that,” said Mass.

The community of Bamfield normally relies on the route to Port Alberni for supplies or medical appointments. With that road currently closed, the only option is heading south to Youbou and Lake Cowichan.

“Because it’s not a public road, we don’t have any enforcement on it, so people who think they can go 100 km/h on there do go 100 km/h,” said Mass

Brain McKay is the owner of McKay Bay Lodge in Bamfield. He believes the road should be paved, as maintenance is currently left to the logging companies.

“If they are not logging, then they are not interested in spending the money on it, of course,” said McKay.

“Let’s get on with it and let’s get that either chip-sealed or paved,” said Bob Beckett, director of the Alberni Clayoquot Regional District.

This is not the first time the logging road has been utilized as a lifeline for communities. In the summer of 2023, the Cameron Bluff wildfire shut down Highway 4. At the time, the Alberni Clayoquot Regional District, funded through the province, established a working group to take a look at creating a permanent alternative route to the west coast. The current detour route has been identified as a viable option.

“Let’s make that road a Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure responsibility and stop this nonsense of not having anything in place until well after the emergency,” said Beckett.

“We need this road as a critical infrastructure,” said Thomas.

The province tells CTV News it has no jurisdiction over the route and says the ministry has no plans to takeover ownership or management of the road.