Lately, Cortes Islanders have been frustrated by the number of large trucks appearing in the ferry lineups in both directions on the Quadra/Cortes run. In particular, the number of gravel-hauling truck/trailer rigs has been the subject of comment and complaint.
These oversize vehicles take up as many as five regular car spaces, and when combined with the usual number of food delivery trucks and Quadra Builders’ regular hi-ab flatbed runs, some feel the “commercials” are taking up more than their share of deck space. Certainly the morning lineups on Quadra, inbound to Cortes, are very long indeed and contain many heavy trucks.
When the gravel trucks head for Cortes with a full load, they also weigh so much that the ferry may reach its weight limit before the car deck is filled, thus further displacing passenger cars from much-coveted ferry space. Residents say there have been an unusual number of gravel truck/trailer trips recently due to some major construction activity on the island.
I travelled from Quadra to Cortes on Friday morning May 22nd, and (wisely) put my car in the line-up at Heriot Bay the night before. Even at 8pm on the previous night there were already two gravel haulers lined up. By 8am they had been joined by two large refrigerator trucks, a large flatbed, and two pieces of heavy earth moving equipment moving under their own power. These oversize and overweight vehicles took up at least three quarters of the ferry deck on that first inbound run, leaving a substantial overload behind.
The situation is not ideal, but some BC Ferries staff believe relief is in sight. One BC Ferries worker told me that when the new Island Class ferry takes over the Cortes/Quadra run this summer, the “truck problem” will improve: Not only will the new boat have more deck space, I was told, but it has a much higher weight limit as well.
The Island Nagalis will transition to Route 24 between Quadra – Cortes Island by summer 2026, replacing the Tachek and increasing vehicle capacity from 26 to 47 and passengers and crew space from 150 to 399.
The unpopular gravel truck/trailer rigs making so many daily trips in recent weeks may help to win community support for the controversial Whaletown quarry expansion proposal currently being reviewed by provincial ministries. Almost all Cortes Islanders acknowledge that it makes good sense to use local gravel and free up more ferry deck space for passenger cars, yet many remain critical of what they see as the disproportionate scale of the proposal and its lack of environmental review. Most recently, FOCI has gone on record as opposing the proposal as currently submitted.
With some island builders choosing not to use Whaletown gravel due to quality issues or a preference for dealing off-island, and with construction projects apparently increasing in scope, islanders can only hope that the BC Ferries staff are right — that the Island Class ferry will offer enough of a capacity boost to make sure passenger vehicles get their share of deck space.
[Feature image by MidJourney, prompt by author; Island Class Ferry image from BC Ferries website; quote is from BC Ferries page (linked above) about the Island Class rollout.]