1:11 p.m., July 17
YRB says Chief Lake Road is now safe to travel on.
"We are continuously monitoring the road surface," a social media update reads. "One lane has been sanded and will be used as a single lane alternating traffic lane if things do deteriorate again. Please obey posted signs and traffic control on site, they are doing the best they can considering the situation. We appreciate everyone’s patience."
The road is currently scheduled to be cleaned and repaired starting tomorrow morning (July 18). Traffic control will be on site.
If people need to get a hold of YRB, they are asked to call 1-800-218-8805. They are not immediately returning calls due to call volume. You are asked to leave your name and number and the company will get back to people as soon as possible.
9:15 a.m., July 17
YRB Fort George says they started to lay down sand over the deficiencies last night and have implemented single lake, alternating traffic until further notice.
The company says f you are turning onto chief lake road from Christina, Syms, Wildrose, Solitude, Mountainview, Green Acres Drive, Discovery, Paradise, Hinterland, Honeymoon or Ranchland please use caution and watch for piloted traffic.
Plan for potential 20-minute delays.
4:35 p.m., July 16
YRB tells PrinceGeorgeMatters the sealcoating was done by a subcontractor hired by them.
"We are assessing the situation and will provide more information to the public when it becomes available. The cause for the deficiency is unknown."
2:30 p.m., July 16
Prince George commuters have taken to social media to voice anger and displeasure after their cars were damaged when sealcoating started to stick to their tires on Chief Lake Road.
Photos show multiple tires covered in slick, slippery seal with many saying tires are destroyed and ruined which has led to multiple people asking who will foot the bill to have them replaced.
A Facebook user responded to a Yellowhead Road and Bridge Fort George (YRB) social media post saying 'So who's fitting the bill? My tires are destroyed."
Olivia Allen says she was driving on the road and noticed there was more gravel than usual and her truck was shaking.
"There were rocks hitting my windshield as well," she says. "We went to the Hart for a walk and my mother noticed a bunch of tar on my tires and suggested I post on the ness lake community page to warn other road users. Not long after that I received multiple comments about people having the same issues."
She says she called YRB and the woman who answered the phone seemed 'speechless' when Allen told her what happened.
"Then told her my issue and said she’d give me a call back. I’m still waiting to hear about it. On the way home I saw many more road users with the same issue and YRB was on scene but my tires are ruined."
Jordan Parker says he was driving to a friend's house and saw the 50 km/h speed limit. He says he doubts he came close to that speed as he was being cautious about rock chips to his car and paint.
"It was on the way out that the road became nearly undrivable," he says. "There were three or four cars in our string of traffic driving roughly 30 km/h for a few km.
"When we exited the construction zone and gravel came to an end my car began to shake violently, I'd assumed a tire had come off of one of my wheels and chose to pull over and assess the damage. To my surprise there were literally gobs of tar pouring off of my tires, there was nearly an inch caked into the tread."
He says he tried to drive the car, hoping that the tar would come off of his tires, but most of it flew up and landed on the body of his vehicle.
"My brakes were squealing horribly from all of the gravel stuck between the pads and rotors," Parker described.
"I stopped and spoke to several other people to make sure that they were okay and that there wasn't any significant damage to their vehicles as well as my own, I continued on my way home driving no more than 20 km/h with my brakes squealing the whole way. I couldn't turn doing any more than 10 km/h because the car would just start sliding from the tar caked on the tires."
When he got home, Parker says he checked the damage and found his car was full of rock chops and his wheel well liners were torn up. He also suffered a flat tire.
"Normally, if I had a situation like that I absolutely would not have driven the car anywhere, but I had a significant amount of live coral with me that I'd needed to get home as soon as possible."
YRB said in a social media post sealcoating Chief Lake Road from Pilot Mountain to Nukko Lake was to start on July 8.
They also announced on Facebook that leftover aggregate was planned to be swept off the newly sealed road by today (July 16).
The company says the road is open and they are assessing the deficiency. They are asking drivers to only use the road if absolutely necessary.
When reached for comment, YRB Fort George says more information will be released later.
