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EDITORIAL: Hey province, fix our intersection!

When it serves the provincial government’s purpose, it can move as fast as a supersonic jet to get things done on the Sea to Sky Highway. Case in point, the Olympic Games were awarded to Vancouver — and Whistler — in July 2003.
intersection
The intersection of Highway 99 and Cleveland Avenue saw 265 accidents between 2013 and 2017.

When it serves the provincial government’s purpose, it can move as fast as a supersonic jet to get things done on the Sea to Sky Highway.

Case in point, the Olympic Games were awarded to Vancouver — and Whistler — in July 2003.

The Ministry of Transportation began the $600-million Sea-to-Sky Highway Improvement Project on the road in 2005.

It was completed in December 2009, just in time for those Olympic Games.

Fancy that.

And yet, when repairs are needed to the hazardous intersection at Highway 99 and Cleveland, the province moves the speed of a slug carrying a backpack full of rocks.

While the eyes of the world aren’t on the highway these days, we do get hundreds of thousands of visitors per year (three million head up to Whistler annually, and they aren’t going by boat or plane, folks) and the gateway crossing into our town is putting them and locals in danger.

The junction of Highway 99 and Cleveland Avenue saw 265 accidents between 2013 and 2017, according to the ICBC crash map.

And ask any Squamish parent who has to contemplate letting their child walk from the east side of the highway to the west to get to school and you will see blood drain from that parent’s face.

The District of Squamish has been asking and asking and asking for something to be done. They can’t do much else, as the highways are strictly within the provincial government’s wheelhouse.

It isn’t a matter of figuring out what to do.

The 2016 Traffic Operational Safety Review lays out plenty of easy and not so easy fixes that need to be made, stat.

As was raised by the previous council, a pedestrian overpass would make a lot of sense at that crossing too.

Will it cost money? Yep.

But earlier this year, the government provided Destination BC, its tourism and marketing agency, with a boost of $1 million annually, on top of its $51.5 million budget, to attract domestic and international visitors to B.C.

Well, thanks for that.

How about protecting the visiting and resident population at the same time?

Last week, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure told The Chief its staff is in the process of updating the design for the changes and then will begin consultation.

Let’s hope this is an olive branch — which was a custom derived from ancient Greece, just like the Olympics — that is treated with the same urgency as the road to those Games.

To give the project a nudge, it might be helpful if every driver in Squamish contacted the Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure and told them to make our safety a priority.

Here’s how to get in touch: PO Box 9850 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9T5 or call 1- 250-356-8241.

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