The stolen drill on the side of Highway 101 should be gone in the next month.
As moss, lichen and rust compete for purchase along the mass of machinery, communications between the Ministry Of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) and the equipment owner have come to a resolution.
On June 14, MOTI released a statement saying that they sympathize with the owner of the drilling equipment stolen and dumped along Highway 101 in late January but if the owner does not remove the equipment by the end of July, the ministry will remove and store it at the owner's expense.
“The abandoned equipment poses no safety risk,” the statement elaborated. “Ministry staff had previously advised the owner that it is their responsibility to retrieve their equipment. With no action yet taken, the ministry will once again contact the owner and provide another opportunity for them to retrieve it.”
Kyle Trousdell, the drill owner, said he is planning to move the machinery soon. He said that Capilano Highways will block off the highway and then he will be able to bring in equipment to retrieve the drill.
Trousdell said that he is hoping to have the drill removed by the end of the month.
Background
Stolen in the morning of Jan 31, the drill fell off an also stolen low bed trailer and landed around the 6700 block of Highway 101.
In the six months in that the stolen rock drill has been at the side of the highway, it has gained a somewhat celebrity status among the community, being adorned with various signs including a provincial heritage marker and a “for sale” sign with a phone number to the RCMP non-emergency line.
The mass of machinery also gained fandom online, one Redditor proposing a new “Dude Drilling Park” (like Vancouver's Dude Chilling Park) and another blaming the wreck on Pokémon GO players, rampant in Vancouver parks several years ago.
Jordan Copp is the Coast Reporter’s civic and Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
