One official says the Ministry of Transportation has been pleased with VSA Maintenance despite not awarding the company a new contract for the Coquihalla.

The province awarded the highway maintenance contract for the Nicola region to Yellowhead Road and Bridge.

Thompson-Nicola district manager Trent Folk was asked if performance weighs into choosing a contractor?

“No, the performance of VSA over the past length of the contract, in particular in recent years, the Ministry has been pleased with VSA’s performance,” he said.

VSA Maintenance has maintained most of the Coquihalla, the Okanagan Connector and other area highways since 2004.

“When we took a look at the evaluation of this new contract, it’s an independent procurement process,” Folk added. “So we evaluated each of the contractors based on the service proposals they submitted and then the price; the service proposal making up 30 per cent of the overall mark and then 70 per cent consisting of their price.”

And what about Yellowhead Road and Bridge?

“They’ve been in maintenance since privatization, their head office is located in Prince George,” he added. “They have had a handful of different service areas over the years, in the Interior and the northern region.”

“They’ve got an excellent reputation for service delivery, community involvement.”

Yellowhead Road and Bridge will take over the contract on July 1st.