Rollovers plague stretch of South Fraser Perimeter Road

Open for less than a year, design concerns are being raised about a stretch of the new South Fraser Perimeter Road, following a series of rollovers involving semi-trucks.

There have been four rollovers in the past two months at the intersection of Highway 17 and the Highway 91 Connector, according to a news release. Overall, there have been five semi-truck crashes since the road opened last December.

One rollover happened yesterday during the morning rush hour commute. Although no one was injured, Delta Police are concerned the road design could be a contributing factor.

“What we are seeing are things like driver inexperience or occasionally we’ve had a couple with load shift, so unsecure loads or inattention,” Delta Police Sgt. Sarah Swallow said.

“Just your general issues, which we’re then finding are being possibly amplified and the affect of them are being exacerbated by the way it is designed in that area.”

The road has several slopes and bends and there’s a stretch that slopes in two directions. It’s an area heavily used by truckers and one driver told Global News the “road is a disaster and it’s an accident waiting to happen.”

“When you’re coming around the corner, you can feel your trailer leaning, and it scares me when I go around it.”

Along with the rollovers causing considerable traffic disruptions on the roads, it also costs the truckers both time and money.

Even though there have been only minor injuries in these rollovers, police are concerned it could be worse.

Delta Police have brought their concerns to the Ministry of Transportation, which has been working the police department to investigate details of each crash and identify any safety improvements.

~ with files from Grace Ke