For years, the Taoyuan area has called for safety upgrades to a section of Highway 97 that has been the site of serious crashes.
A series of fatal crashes and other incidents in recent weeks have renewed calls for an upgrade of the area.
“What we're really advocating for is: one, lower the speed limit. Two, have the developers that impact our intersection help make the intersection safer. Three, get a traffic light at the end of Trepanier Road. Those are our three big items, and we've been talking about them for 12 years, and we're going to continue to advocate for them,” said Peachland Deputy Mayor Keith Thom.
“We don't want to see someone get killed or injured in order to get us to put safety devices on the highway. Unfortunately, we've had several of those in the 15 years I've been here, and sometimes it seems like it takes a death or injury for action to be taken.”
There have been four major crashes on Highway 97 through Peachland in the past month, including a fatal single-vehicle accident on May 9.dayThe next day, no one was injured in the chaotic five-car pileup.
Emails needed on the day
Top news from Canada and around the world.
Later, a motorhome flipped into a roadside parking lot, with the driver suffering minor injuries. On Monday, a motorcyclist died in a two-vehicle crash on the same stretch of road.
“I was trying to figure out what happened. I didn't understand until I walked over to the truck and saw it was broken in half, and then I saw the gentleman just lying on the ground,” said Eduardo Alves, a Taoyuan resident who witnessed the crash on Monday. “One of the tires of the motorcycle was still there. These are the pieces that I found, and I don't know what happened to the motorcycle.”
The cause of each crash remains under investigation; however, police say drivers need to be more vigilant on the roads.
Especially as summer approaches, the Okanagan Highway becomes even busier.
“What we're saying is we want people to get to their destinations safely, whether they're locals, tourists or passers-by. If drivers slow down, don't pass other vehicles and stay in their lane, the likelihood of a collision is reduced,” said Sgt. Melissa Jongema of the BC Highway Patrol.
“When the weather gets warmer we also see an increase in road users which generally means we also have an increased risk of collisions.”
Meanwhile, the city council hopes to install traffic lights at the bottom of Trepanier Road by the end of the year.
“We have been calling for a traffic light at the intersection with Highway 97 at the foot of Trepanier Mountain for 12 years, but no one has responded,” Thom added. “We will push for this with the Minister of Transportation when we go to UBCM in September. We don’t want another tragedy to happen in our city.”
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
