Dozens of people sheltering at a highway rest stop in Abbotsford, B.C., will soon be left looking for an alternative.
The Bradner rest area on Highway 1 was designed as a temporary stop for travellers and tourists but has become a permanent home to a number of people living in tents, trailers and RVs.
That situation is coming to an end this summer when the Ministry of Transportation plans to reconfigure the rest stop as a part of work to widen Highway 1 in the area.
The situation has some residents like Paul Shearer saying they have nowhere else to go.
“I’m on pension, I don’t have any extra money. They want more than $1,000 for a trailer park … the prices are beyond me and everyone here has got the same problem,” he said.
“I have been looking for another place to live for almost a year now.”
Shearer, a machinist until he was injured two decades ago, said life in the rest area is hard with no power, water, sewage or heat, but it at least gives him somewhere to park his trailer.
Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens told Global News the city doesn’t have any other land for those in the rest area to move to.
The city is working with BC Housing to find alternative options, he said, but the situation is challenging and more help is needed from senior levels of government.
“Anytime somebody is unhoused and can’t find appropriate housing, I don’t think we ever rest easy or are comfortable with that situation,” Siemens said.
“We have to understand that there isn’t any one level of government or any magic bullet. We have to all work on it together.”
Siemens estimated Abbotsford is already grappling with a homeless population of about 400 people.
The Ministry of Transportation said construction on Phase 3A of the Fraser Valley Highway 1 Corridor Improvement Program was set to begin this summer, with contracts going to tender in the coming weeks.
The work involves widening about four kilometres of Highway 1 to add an HOV lane in each direction and the replacement of the Bradner Road crossing.
“We know that people are using highway rights-of-way such as this, and other public highway rest areas, for longer-term camping,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Conditions at these encampments can become unsafe, and incidents like fire raise serious concerns for the safety of those living there, for area residents, and for people travelling in close proximity on provincial highways.”
The ministry said it would work with provincial and local housing agencies to ensure “appropriate supports” are offered to those in the encampment.
Residents like Shearer, meanwhile, are left wondering what comes next.
“You can’t live in Canada, period. This place has gone nuts,” he said.
“This is no way to live, this is survival only.”