Highway users in and around Gold Bridge over the last 35 years can give their thanks to Wayne Yasinowski for their safe travels.
Yasinowski was first introduced to the world of road maintenance in the 70s, after the mine he was working at near Gold Bridge shut down. He landed on his feet and picked up a job driving a sand truck for the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) in October 1971.
“I was mainly driving a sand truck, but I also worked on a loader, with a chainsaw – basically wherever they needed work done, I filled in. The multitude of jobs taught me a lot that I relied on later with Dawson,” said Yasinowski.
In 1988, highway maintenance contracts became privatized and by Nov. 1, he was officially and employee with Interior Roads Limited (IRL [now known as Dawson Road Maintenance]) as a machine operator.
While the maintenance contract changed hands a few times over the years (from IRL to Whiteline Road Maintenance and eventually Cariboo Road Services, before IRL reclaimed the contract in 1996), Yasinowski was a mainstay in the area.
After several years of driving truck for IRL, he made the switch to driving a grader fulltime in both the summer and winter.
“I loved the grader. I still miss driving it. I enjoyed that every day was different. You could see the work you were doing, so it gave you a great sense of accomplishment at the end of the day,” said Yasinowski. “It’s a sophisticated machine and you need to think and plan ahead, especially when plowing snow. You don’t want to create hazards or make the road too smooth heading into a turn. There was always lots to think about in the grader.”
From 1988 to 2002, Yasinowski sat in the grader, making sure roads were operable. His favourite spot to work was on the Highline Road, where he could go quietly about his work and take care of the task at hand.
The one downside to working in Gold Bridge was that he was away from his kids more than he wished. His family moved to Lillooet so his kids could attend a bigger school in 1996, but Yasinowski remained working in Gold Bridge until 2002. It was then that he made a career switch to become a Sign Worker, while continuing to sub off with grader work when needed.
Another job requiring versatility, Sign Workers are tasked with erecting and maintaining all street signs, speed zone signs and other messaging along highway systems in their area.
“There is a lot that goes into putting up one sign. I had to figure out where to put it, get the underground permits to allow me to dig holes for the sign, figure out how big of a sign was needed and the support systems the sign needed to stay up in harsh conditions,” said Yasinowski. “And that is just for one sign. I was given lists of 50 signs that needed to go up every few months.”
One of Yasinowski’s most memorable sign placements has saved countless lives.
In between Lillooet and Cache Creek, there is a turn immediately after an uphill section by Robertson Creek on Highway 99. If you are travelling from Lillooet to Cache Creek, unknown highway travellers cannot see the bank in the road as they approach the left-hand turn. During storms or vehicles moving at high speeds, the deception in the turn had sent vehicles over the bank or overcorrecting their vehicles so much that they rollover as a result.
Five years ago, Yasinowski worked with the SA 16 Operations Manger and MoTI to install bright yellow and black arrow signs to warn drivers well in advance of the dangerous turn. Since then, there hasn’t been one incident on that corner.
“That turn isn’t a hairpin by any means. Often vehicles approach the curve with speed not knowing it is there and end up rolling over. We regularly got reports of vehicle incidents near that curve. But since Wayne installed the Chevron curve hazard signs warning people about the turn, there has been a notable reduction in reported incidents at that site.” said David Rhodes, SA 17 Operations Manager, a former Road Foreman in Ashcroft.
After 18 years of working on signs (often bailed out by his handy Leatherman), Yasinowski officially retired on June 1, 2020. And avid snowmobiler, he stays busy by chasing powder and being a Ski-Doo dealer in the area for the past 25 years. He still enjoys seeing graders at work and marvels at the technology available to them these days. It reminds him of the great crews and pieces of equipment he worked with, working their hardest to make sure everyone was as safe as possible in the Gold Bridge area.
“Road maintenance guys don’t have holidays. We are the ones going out and looking after the roads to make sure they are safe for everyone to use. When you hear things like the number of incidents getting reduced at the corner because of the signs, that’s where the rewarding part of this job comes in. It’s a great feeling to know that you play a part in keeping highway users safe,” said Yasinowski.
On our 100th Anniversary, Dawson Group extends its sincerest gratitude to Wayne Yasinowski for his 35 years of dedicated service. His contributions helped us achieve this significant milestone and lay the groundwork for our promising future.