"The speed is the biggest problem. An extra second makes a big difference," said the mother of four girls, Dara Milligan, about traffic near her home in Elphinstone.
Milligan and her family were some of the approximately 125 people who rallied Monday, Jan. 8, to call for changes to a deadly stretch of Highway 101. She worries for the safety of her three oldest girls, who walk to school each day along the highway.
As well, residents of the Poplars Mobile Home Park are concerned for their safety. The 1400 block of the highway, where the park is located, has been the site of three major accidents in the recent past. The latest took the life of a 12-year-old girl on Jan. 2.
Monday's meeting brought out politicians, RCMP members and community activists. Ed Steeves, Sechelt councillor and chair of the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD), was on hand to voice his concern at the lack of action by the provincial government. Steeves said the District of Sechelt has been frustrated with dealings with the province on another dangerous section of the highway leading into the village of Sechelt.
The part of the road in question leads from Field Road in Wilson Creek to the conveyor belt next to Tsain-Ko Mall. Steeves said the District did a $40,000 study at the behest of the province, which was supposed to result in the province providing $11 million along with $1 million from the District to get the work done.
"We've got our million ready and we haven't heard from [the province] since," Steeves said. "We've just got tidbit things done. This is a Band-Aid approach."
Coincidentally, at the same time the rally was getting started, B.C. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon announced a $1.5 million commitment to "improve the safety of Highway 101."
According to a news release from the Ministry of Transportation, improvements will include high-visibility all-weather pavement markings and enhanced signage to raise the alertness level of drivers to potential safety hazards including approaching curves. (That's not part of the concern by the mobile home park; the highway there is straight.)
Other improvements will include pedestrian and cyclist safety features including shoulder widening where usage indicates. Pullouts for school and transit buses will be created where appropriate, enhanced lighting added where night visibility is a problem and intersections improved where past accidents suggest they are needed.
Based on those recommendations, history at Poplars seems to indicate a left-turn lane would be an improvement. And many residents of the mobile home park are calling for a pedestrian-operated traffic light.
Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons was away at the time of the announcement. In a later email to Coast Reporter, Simons expressed appreciation for the financial commitment and remarked, "Because of the timing one has to wonder if this is an arbitrary amount or if this is an accurate estimate of what it will cost to make the Highway 101 truly safer."
The MLA also said he was concerned that the money was designated for items Simons would deem essential requirements for a highway. "I don't think it's too much for us to expect wide enough roads or proper signage. In fact, it's really the least we should expect," he said.
Simons said he would continue to lobby for measures and recommendations that will contribute to a safer highway. However, as both Steeves and Sunshine Coast Staff Sgt. Brad Zalys pointed out in separate interviews at the rally, not all the fault lies with the highway.
"It's a two-way program. We have people here who don't obey the laws," Steeves said.
Zalys agreed with Steeves. Zalys remarked that people using the highway need to take more care. Falcon too commented on highway user attitude in the release."A safe highway also depends on education and enforcement," the minister said. "That's why we're also going to work with local stakeholders including schools, RCMP and community safety groups to help promote safety on this road."
For some at the rally, this is but another promise in a line of many.
Lorne Lewis, Elphinstone director on the SCRD board, showed a June 24, 1980 issue of The Press (a defunct Sunshine Coast newspaper) with the headline, "The Gibsons bypass is coming."
Many at the rally were of the opinion that had the bypass gone through 26 years ago, perhaps the Jan. 2 tragedy would never have happened. Most are not willing to wait another 20 years to have something done to make the highway safer.
"I think what's happened, the latest accident, is a catalyst. People now think we have to do something on the highway," said rally participant Gillian Kydd.
Organizers of the rally are urging concerned citizens to attend the SCRD emergency traffic and safety committee meeting on Jan. 15 at the SCRD building, Field Road, Wilson Creek.
