A B.C. man wants safety measures installed along a small stretch of Highway 97 in the South Okanagan, and fears if nothing is done, something bad will eventually happen.
Derek Carlson says a score or so of residences located between Vaseux Lake and Highway 97 are in imminent danger, as there are no barriers to prevent a vehicle from slamming into a home if it happens to leave the road.
Specifically, Carlson says only five metres separate the fenced backyards of homes along Vaseux Lake Crescent and Highway 97.
“The whole neighbourhood is not safe from that highway,” said Carlson, 43, who once lived in the area but now calls Langley home.
Carlson said his parents have lived on Vaseux Lake Crescent for more than 20 years and have tried to get barriers installed, but “they were completely ignored.”
“Basically, the highway rips along there to go from Oliver down to Okanagan Falls, and you’ve got vehicles going at least 100 km/h along that stretch,” said Carlson.
“The houses are situated below the highway, so if a car went off the highway, it’s going to go right off the highway, launch right through their fences and into their homes and their backyards and stuff like that.”
WATCH BELOW (Sept. 11, 2019): Charge laid after transport truck crashes over guardrail on Hwy 401
The speed limit along that stretch of highway is 80 km/h.
“If you stand in the backyard, you can just hear cars screaming through there, and there’s no protection. It’s scary,” he added.
“There’s probably 15 to 20 homes on Vaseux Lake Crescent. It’s just not my parents’ home I’m concerned about, I’m concerned about the whole neighbourhood.”
WATCH BELOW (Sept. 2, 2019): 3 dead, 2 injured in highway crash on southern New Brunswick highway
Carlson said he contacted the Ministry of Transportation but was told barriers were not required because the highway isn’t curved.
Global News contacted the ministry on Friday for more information regarding that stretch of Highway 97.
On Tuesday, the ministry responded.
“Peoples’ safety is the ministry’s highest priority, and we regularly monitor all our highways to ensure they are safe,” the ministry said in an email to Global News.
“Placement of roadside barrier is determined through an engineering review of a variety of factors, including: traffic volumes, posted speed limit and collision history.
“Review of the collision data indicates that this corridor is not considered collision prone and does not warrant barriers.”
WATCH BELOW (Aug. 21, 2019): Safety questions raised after deadly Alberta crash kills 3 people
Notably, Carlson pointed out there are concrete barriers just half a kilometre up the road, between Vaseux Lake Provincial Park and Highway 97.
“They have barriers along there, but they’re not willing to protect the homes where people could die if there’s a car accident,” said Carlson.
“That’s my fear; someone is going to get killed before they do something about it.”
Carlson said the ministry told him they weren’t aware of any problems in the area, but said that’s beside the point.
“Is it going to take somebody dying, or a car or a semi-truck launching through someone’s house before they do something about it?” Carlson said.
Comments