Between KM 6 & 7 just past the Gwenyth Lake turnoff on the Hurley is what started out to be a big mud hole . This place is now becoming quite dangerous as it is has several deep holes ,although dry, and people who come up on it too fast get a nasty surprise. Ministry officials have been advised and they promise to get the forest company who is logging in the area to get it fixed.
Log hauling began on the Hurley down to Rd. 40 again yesterday, watch out for logging trucks and be careful!
MOFLNRO Squamish is working to grading their end (switchbacks) before July long weekend although it may happen immediately following.
Positive news in that they intend to hire the same type of heavier equipment as did the job in October. The other piece of positive news is that the section that never saw a grader last year, between Tenquille Lake Rd. and KM 19 marker will be graded.
There was confusion last year as to whose jurisdiction it was in. This has been solved. The middle piece of the road is in as poor condition as we have seen in a number of years. This is primarily due to the classification it receives by the Ministry of Transportation. The maintenance of the road is in the Interior Roads contract and is classed as a “once a year” Grade. We all know this isn’t enough. In previous years under MOF it was graded two times a year which ensured it didn’t deteriorate as much. Ministry of Transportation officials are cooperative and attempting to see if and how we can get some gravel on this section of the Road too.
NOW it is your turn, if you have driven the middle piece of the Hurley River Rd. in the last two weeks and have something to say about it fill in the form at: http://www.interiorroads.com/pcr.php This form goes to Interior Roads management and Ministry Officials. Many elected folks are doing their best to advocate for the appropriate maintenance of this road, but it really is the public’s say that counts.
PLEASE have your say on the Hurley and fill out this form!!!
My brother and I just took a day trip from Surrey that ended up including the Hurley. We arrived at Lillooet via the Duffy, had lunch, and my brother got me to agree to essentially double back (in a north-west kind of way) from Lillooet to Pemberton via the Carpenter Lake Road, which is a trip in itself. If we had not asked a flag man about the Hurley we might have missed it. The only thing that announces the Hurley Road to the world at it’s north end is a funky home made sign hanging on a tree. So off we go onto the Hurley in my brothers 20 year old BMW 325i. With no lug wrench to change a tire as we find out. The first mile is washboard with gravel that I would call small rocks, not gravel. Oh, did I mention the flag man told us the grader had just graded the road two day previous and this was about as good as the Hurley gets? OK, the suspension is vibrating and getting a good workout, but nothing really bad. The problem is this is not a gravel road. This is a dirt road, basically scraped out and that’s about it. There are tops of rocks that stick out of the roadbed. And you really need to miss most of them. They will not bottom your car out but they will pound your tires and suspension. And in some areas you will have essentially a field of these rock sticking out. And if you don’t slow down enough they will not just pound your suspension, they will pop your tire’s bead off of the rim. Which is what I think happened to us. The tire was still on the rim but I think it just reseated itself. I still have not heard from my brother if it bent the rim. Even when we had the flat we could not tell we had a flat because the car’s suspension was being pounded so hard and the ride was so rough that a flat tire made no difference to the roughness of the ride. But we both heard/felt a rythmic part to the pounding that suggested a tire was flat. We had to drive another 300 meters to find a place to change the tire. Luckily, the next two vehicles that passed us stopped and we did get the tire changed, because one guy had a socket that fit the lugs and the other guy had a piece of pipe that we could slip over the other guy’s ratchet to give us enough leverage to take the lugs off.. People are like that on that kind of a road. Thank God. If you are the kind of person that would not stop to ask someone if they need help, please don’t take the Hurley. Stay in the big city. They don’t need you on the Hurley. And luckily the Bbeamer had a full sized spare. I was kidding my brother about having a Beamer with a standard transmission but that was a really nice feature on the Hurley. On those rocks and washboard you really want to slow down by downgearing if you can, not just braking. And I guess there is a reason the guy in the SUV (he was the one with the ratchet and socket that fit our lug nuts) who has driven the Hurley a thousand times slowed right down and let us idiots in the car pass him by about 5 miles before we popped the tire’s bead on the rim. I think he knew he’d be having to stop to help us out at some point.
Would I do it again in my brothers car? Actually I would. But at about half the speed we were going, and I would crawl real slow over those ‘rock fields’ as I call them. If you are going so fast that you can’t pick your way around the rocks sticking out of the road surface, you are going too fast. And if we were passing SUV’s and even 3/4 ton 4X4’s (as we did on two occassions) I would be worried. That being said, my brother probably put his suspension through more abuse on that section of road than it will have taken for all the other days of it’s life.
It amazes me that the the provincial government put in a 2 lane freeway into whistler, but does not properly maintain a cheap basic road to an equally stunning and usable recreational location, that if properly maintained could be within 3 hours of Vancouver . If you travel south ,east , or west to the islands from Vancouver, the roads are pristine, even up to the north end of b.c, someone has to invite the various political parties to send large groups of MLAs up here to see what is not being done. WAC Bennett and Dave Barrett would have cut the ribbon on a paved road to the bridge river valley by now! What a joke!
hurley is bad.I dont remember it worse.I thought the switch backs were the best part of the road.Its even rough on a quad.
The condition of the Hurley continues to deteriorate. I worry every time I drive that road that I am going to have another flat tire and bottom out. The condition is unacceptable and as a taxpayer I think keeping the Hurley well maintained is a priority.
We have a cabin at Gun Lake and have been traveling the road from Pemberton Meadows up the Hurley to Gun Lake and to Gwyneth Lake for 20 years and the road is getting worse every year. Considering that this is the main road North from Whistler and Pemberton to many lakes, and the huge property taxes we are paying at Gun Lake the road should be improved. Many European visitors who visit Whistler love the rustic back-country and would go into the Southern Chilcotin on the Circle Tours providing a boost to the economy if the roads were improved. I’ve noticed many places For Sale in the last few years and I think this is mainly due to people not wanting to risk ruining their vehicles getting there. And, we cannot encourage guests to go up there when we know the risks on the road.
An upgraded Hurley (Including the east) would be a big draw to future home owners and tax payers to the area.
I just came up the Hurley this week and the best section of the whole road is the east Hurley! That’s pretty sad.
In the 15+ years I have been using the Hurley I have never seen it as rough as it is now. We pay some pretty high taxes for this lack of service. Fix the road or drop or taxes!
We have a cabin above Bralorne and have been driving the Hurley for nearly 30 years. There was one major upgrade to the Hurley in 86 or so but nothing since. Time for another upgrade. The place is drop dead gorgeous and could be Vancouver and especially Whistler friendly but the road is what people remember and don’t want to ruin their vehicle on, even if it is a four wheel drive. Help the local economy help themselves by upgrading the road and bringing in visitors and future owners and tax payers.