Speaker after speaker at the Highway 101 safety forum on Feb. 24 gave the Ministry of Transportation (MOT) representatives and RCMP an earful on the state of the Sunshine Coast's only highway. From bicyclist to motorist to pedestrian, the level of frustration with the main and feeder roads was high.
In a pre-event interview, Lorne Lewis, Area E (Elphinstone) Sunshine Coast Regional District director and one of the organizers of the forum, was the first of many to say the highway is inadequate.
"It's a local road that was designated a highway and was never designed as a highway. We [Area E residents] don't want improvements on this one. We want a highway designed to be a highway and give us back our road," Lewis emphasized.
The public forum was intended to give Coast residents an opportunity to bring their concerns to MOT, ICBC and the RCMP. Although the regional district holds regular monthly transportation meetings, the sponsor of the forum, the Elphinstone Electors Association, felt there is insufficient room to have effective public representation at those meetings.
About 70 people attended Saturday's event including politicians from Sechelt, Gibsons, Roberts Creek, Halfmoon Bay, Howe Sound and the school board along with Chief Stan Dixon from the Sechelt Indian Band and Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons.
Elphinstone resident Chuck Weatherill was one of several speakers to blast the transportation representatives for the delay in building the long hoped for highway bypass.
"Tax money has to be spent to extend the highway from the Langdale terminal. You guys have had a free lunch long enough - fix it," he demanded.
Many parents attending the meeting implored the ministry to put crosswalks on heavily-travelled routes. Susan Rule, an Elphinstone resident, said it can take up to 10 minutes for her daughter to cross Pratt Road safely to get to Cedar Grove Elementary School.
School board chair Greg Russell appeared to agree with this request when he told those present a precedent for a crosswalk in a rural area had already been set at Roberts Creek.
Some audience participants urged the ministry to lower the speed limit on heavily populated parts of the highway - a plan Sharon Goddard, MOT area project engineer, said may be doomed to failure. She spoke of her own experiment of driving 50 kms in a 60 km zone on the outskirts of Sechelt village to see what the result would be.
"I was passed seven times on a double-solid line. It is too slow - people won't drive it. It becomes an enforcement issue - people won't do it," she stated.
Sunshine Coast RCMP Cpl. Don Newman added, "We have to put a lot of thought into this. Road rage, passing causing dangerous situations [can result from artificially lowered speeds]." Brian Dubberley of Gibsons graphically demonstrated the dangers for bike riders on the highway. He brought a bag full of debris salvaged from the highway. Included were many different pieces of metal, all of which could result in serious injury to a cyclist and damage to bicycles.
Steve Sleep of Elphinstone made an impassioned plea for better shoulders on the road for cyclists to use. He spoke of the serious accident this summer when two young cyclists were mowed down. Too many times, he said, riders must move into the flow of traffic to escape debris and gravel. Perry replied that widening the shoulders is something "we should take a good hard look at," using the $1.5 million allocated in January to the Coast.
And Karen Klein from ICBC reminded those present that in many instances the insurance company will supplement the money available for safety enhancement. One group not represented at the meeting that took a lot of heat was Capilano Highway Services. Many in the audience, including Gibsons Mayor Barry Janyk, felt the maintenance company should have been there. "How can we have a good dialogue when a key player is missing?" he asked.
Lori Dixon, school board trustee, who spoke of her first meeting on the bypass in 1968 with her father, Chief Henry Paull, seemed to sum up the feelings of the crowd.
"Quit fiddling around and get something going," she told the transport people.
