Image: Emil Anderson Maintenance / Emil Anderson Maintenance (Fraser Valley) will hold a post-winter stakeholder meeting on Tuesday, May 9 from 8:30-11:30 a.m. at the Coast Hotel in Chilliwack, asking Chilliwack residents for feedback on its winter maintenance operations. Emil Anderson holds these meetings on an annual basis and welcomes all community stakeholders, municipal representatives, first responders, members of local First Nations communities, and anyone within the Fraser Valley who wishes to have their say on how Emil Anderson can improve.
Emil Anderson post-winter meetings

Emil Anderson asks Chilliwack residents for feedback on its winter maintenance

May 6, 2023 | 8:32 AM

CHILLIWACK — Emil Anderson Maintenance, the contractor tasked with maintaining Highway 1 and other regional highways for the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, will hold a series of public meetings this coming week asking residents of Chilliwack, Hope and Abbotsford for feedback on its winter maintenance operations.

In several tweets earlier this week, Emil Anderson Maintenance said its Fraser Valley team will hold its annual post-winter stakeholder meetings in-person in Chilliwack, Hope and Abbotsford.

“We welcome all community stakeholders, municipal representatives, first responders, members of our local First Nations communities, and anyone within the Fraser Valley who wishes to have their say, to join us for these meetings,” Emil Anderson Maintenance wrote on Twitter. “Our primary goal is to gather feedback regarding the services provided this winter, and learn how we can improve and better maintain the roads that connect us.”

The Chilliwack in-person meeting will be held Tuesday, May 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Sardis/Hemlock Room at the Coast Hotel, 45920 First Avenue.

The Hope meeting will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Hope Golf Club, 900 Golf Course Road, in Hope on Tuesday, May 9.

The Abbotsford meeting will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9 at the Matsqui Community Hall, 33676 St. Olaf Avenue, in Abbotsford.

Residents are invited to submit questions to hello@emilanderson.ca.

“If you have any questions or would like us to cover a particular topic or issue during the meeting, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email at hello@emilanderson.ca,” Emil Anderson wrote on Twitter. “We hope to see a strong turn-out from our community next week!”

Emil Anderson Maintenance (Fraser Valley) has provided highway and bridge maintenance services in the Fraser Valley since 1996. EAM utilizes what it says is a skilled and motivated year-round workforce and supplements with additional personnel during winter operations.

“We perform all aspects of highway and bridge maintenance including, but not limited to, vegetation control, drainage, sign repairs, pavement repairs, concrete and wood bridge repair, gravel surface grading, anti-icing, snow plowing, and incident and emergency response,” Emil Anderson Maintenance wrote on its website.

During the spring and summer months, one of the most common maintenance requests that Emil Anderson Maintenance receives is for pothole filling and repair along provincial roads and highways. Potholes are an unfortunate reality of any roadway and can occur at any time, even after being recently repaired. Its Fraser Valley service team works to ensure that any road surface deficiencies are responded to within the prescribed response time according to road classification, which is typically 24-hours on numbered routes.

In addition to itts own road patrols, Emil Anderson also relies on travellers to help let them know what needs to be repaired as well, as potholes can develop suddenly. They ask motorists to call them at 1-800-667-5122, 24 hours a day, if drivers see anything that requires immediate attention.