Clearwater mayor Merlin Blackwell was recently in Victoria with a goal of continuing to advocate for critical changes along Highway 5 to increase safety and reduce risks of further fatal crashes.
In a phone interview with ronaldomanosa, Blackwell said that continued highway enforcement by the B.C. Highway Patrol is crucial.
“In the scope of things, having consistent highway enforcement by B.C. Highway Patrol based out of Clearwater, is significantly quicker and cheaper than building extra passing lanes, which is also another important thing tabled to relieve the pressure on the highway.”
Blackwell is taking a firm stand on keeping the highway patrol stationed out of the Clearwater RCMP detachment, and believes additional members are needed to keep an eye on the busy corridor between Kamloops and the Alberta border, often referred to by locals as the Yellowhead Highway.
The Clearwater mayor is being joined by Barriere mayor Ward Stamer in calls for enforcement by both highway patrol and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Enforcement.
READ MORE: Truck drivers prevent collision after dangerous pass on Highway 5 near Barriere
A virtual meeting is scheduled to take between Transportation Minister Rob Fleming and the North Thompson mayors on May 8.
Highway safety is not just an issue top of mind for the North-Thompson Valley.
Blackwell said in a recent conversation with Valemount mayor Owen Togerson, that he discovered there is 103 kilometers without a single passing lane between Darfield, near Little Fort, and Messiter, just outside of Blue River.
“I took that info and used it publicly for an example, saying that is like driving from Simon Fraser University to Hope without a single opportunity to have a passing lane. If this was Vancouver or even Abbotsford, nobody would put up with that,” Blackwell said.
“You wouldn’t get the ‘zoomie’s’ like you get in the Lower Mainland that drive dangerously between the two lanes. We don’t have the two lanes to drive between along this often curvy highway. On this long corridor you have no straight lines, or very few straight line areas, where everybody seems to speed right up to make up for time when they are going through the ‘twisties’ and it’s a complicated set of issues that need to be addressed as soon as possible.”
