Sea to Sky MLA says more data needed to determine possible highway safety improvements

West Vancouver – Sea to Sky MLA Jordan Sturdy says he agrees with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) who say ongoing assessment and review of serious highway accidents and accident statistics is needed before looking at what type of safety improvements can be made along the Sea to Sky Highway.

The comments come following renewed calls from the public for more concrete median barriers to be installed along the highway after a fatal collision earlier this month. A petition started by a Squamish high school student calling on the MOTI to improve safety, specifically with median barriers has garnered over 4,000 signatures to date. The Ministry says they will address safety improvements at the location as necessary following the review of the incident’s police report.

“My heart goes out to the people involved, this is a real tragedy… it’s hard to appreciate what these people are actually feeling” says Sturdy. The MLA understands why there is a petition to see more barriers, but says there are significant limitations; “I certainly understand why there is a desire to move in that direction. I think that we would need to look at where to make safety improvements and how to continue to make safety improvements”.

He wants to see more data in order to understand what the speeds of vehicles are, as well as where the areas of primary concern are. Sturdy says in the wake of any of these incidents there tends to be a focus on a variety of different anecdotes; “I think it is important to recognize that even over the last 7 or 8 years since the highway improvement project has been completed, the trends, the safety trends do continue to improve.”

In reference to the petition, Sturdy acknowledges why there is a desire to move in that direction; “we would need to look at where to make safety improvements and how to continue to make safety improvements… It’s hard to imagine that we’ll find a simple solution here, there’s always compromises, that are, that need to be made when decisions like this are made. In many cases we don’t have the road width to put a barrier in for example, or if we do we loose shoulders”.

The MLA is working with the highways department in getting more data, to learn what the situation is in various segments of the highway. According to Sturdy the report from the RCMP that investigates highway incidents can take some time to get back to officials, stating that in previous cases it has taken a year before the final report is received.