Anyone planning to visit Cultus Lake over the Labour Day long weekend is advised that if they park along the Columbia Valley Highway they may be towed.
Upper Fraser Valley RCMP, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, Fraser Valley Regional District, and the Cultus Lake Parks Board have partnered on the project, saying anyone in an undesignated spot could return to their car and it won’t be there.
Parking is prohibited on the Columbia Valley Highway. The fire department has expressed concern that parking on that road prevents emergency services from moving safely through the area.
“It’s the only route in and out of the lake,” Warren Mazuren, fire chief with the Cultus Lake volunteer fire department explained. “We’re just making the public aware that emergency response vehicles, fire department, ambulance, police need to respond to calls safely.”
Mazuren said it is not just a long weekend issue, but it can be especially challenging on long weekends.
“We want our first responders to get to where they need to go in a timely manner so that everybody is kept safe,” Taryn Dixon, Fraser Valley Regional District electoral director told Global News.
“There’s lots of traffic congestion on the busy days, people are trying to find parking, people are trying to drive home, guests, sometimes they open their door into the traffic and it’s unsafe and it’s concerning. While we want people to come and enjoy it, our theme is protecting this place but we want everyone to be safe here.”
Visitors to the lake are advised to park only in the designated paid parking lots located in the Cultus Lake community or limited parking at Cultus Lake Provincial Park.
The Fraser Valley Regional District said if anyone is towed it will be by Reliable Towing to a temporary tow lot located at the Cultus Lake Community Hall.
Owners will have to pay to get their vehicle back.
Dixon said additional RCMP officers will be on the scene this weekend and will be advising people about where they cannot stop or park.
Paid parking is in effect year-round in all Cultus Lake Park public parking areas:
- Lot A: West Side
- Lot B: Main Beach
- Lot C: located at the Marina
- Lot D: located behind the Waterpark
- Oak Street Park
- Plaza Day Use Parking
- Oversized parking is available at Lot B
“People are used to not being towed or ticketed and we’ve had some weekends this summer where it was absolutely dangerous and unmanageable so this weekend is a little bit of a pilot project,” Dixon added.