Kaleden residents have launched a petition calling for immediate improvements along Highway 97 and Highway 3A.
Residents feel the stretch of highway between Penticton and Okanagan Falls is unsafe, voicing concerns over the number of accidents that have occurred.
The most recent accident being on Dec. 1 when a transport truck collided with a pickup truck closing the highway for several hours.
“It is a major route that goes all the way down to Osoyoos. We need to make sure we use it safely,” said Kaleden Area Director, Subrina Monteith.
“When the highway is closed because of an accident, we have no access to Penticton.”
The online petition has gathered more than 3,000 signatures as of Monday evening.
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“Because we are an unincorporated community, we fall to the ministry to make those decisions on our roads. Because we don’t have control locally, we can’t get things like this changed even though we know it needs to be done. So, the petition will show all the support for change that we have,” Monteith said.
Roly Russell, MLA for Boundary-Similkameen, recognizes the community’s concerns and plans to bring the petition forward to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
“This is an issue that has been raised as a safety concern by some of the Kaleden residents months ago,” Russell said.
“My office has been following up to see what kind of solutions might be in the cards for increasing the safety in that stretch of highway.”
According to Russell, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure are aware of the petition and are actively working to find a solution for the area.
Meanwhile, Kaleden residents have brought forward several suggestions.
“Including central barriers, increased safety and signaling around some intersections or a left turn lane. The community has identified many suggestions to bring forward,” Russell said.
Russell added that with the recent increase of traffic due to highway closures, “the highway is in need of immediate support and long-term solutions.”
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