The Heffley Creek Landfill will receive some major improvements in the next few months including road upgrades, expanded services and the addition of an Eco-Depot.
The current access road, a dirt road leading to the landfill, will be no more. In its place, a paved road will be built, moving about half a kilometre up Sun Peaks Road. The intersection will also be designed to make the road safer for traffic.
“Right now, (when) you come around, you spring basically up to a blind corner,” explained Don May, Thompson Nicola Regional District’s manager of environmental health services. “The key concern was to make the sightlines a lot better so we’ll be meeting the Ministry of Transportation sightlines and safety guidelines.”
In addition, the section of Sun Peaks Road that connects to the turnoff will be upgraded. “We’re going to put in some extra lanes on the Sun Peaks Road so there’ll be a proper turning lane out of the landfill,” added May.
The $456,207 contract was awarded to Extreme Excavating Ltd. from Kamloops with funds coming from three revenue streams: the Building Canada Infrastructure Fund, taxes and tipping fees. This project is expected to be completed by fall of this year.
This restructuring of the road also expands the landfill’s capacity. The new road will connect with the southeast part of the landfill, instead of the middle, and at a higher vantage point. This layout reduces the amount of wasted space at the landfill.
“By coming in higher at the edge of the landfill, all that area where the road used to come in is now free to use (as part of the landfill)”, explained May.
TNRD landfills at Clearwater, Chase and Barriere will be closed this fall and replaced with Eco-Depots.
The final phase of the upgrade is the addition of an Eco-Depot outside the Heffley Creek landfill so customers won’t have to enter the landfill area. Signed and lighted drop off areas will be added as well as safety railings and traffic control devices to ensure safe movement of people and vehicles on site.
“The Eco-Depot will provide all the services that exist at the present landfill and additional services for composting and product stewardship programs,” said May.
May said that after the roadwork is done, they will focus on preparing a detailed site design for the Eco-Depot. The design will also integrate the installation of the double scale at the landfill.
“The double scale facility will be going in next year, probably spring or summer of 2012,” he said.
TNRD’s long term goal is to change the way that waste is disposed in the region and to reduce the adverse effects on the environment.
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