(Results at 7:00 AM Friday
Does Peachland need a Highway 97 bypass?
| Total Votes: 3189 | ||
| Yes | 72.72% | |
| No | 20.76% | |
| Not sure | 6.52% | |
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Wayne Moore -CASTANET Feb 18, 2016 / 3:56 pm
Changes could be coming to Highway 97 through Peachland following a second fatality in just 12 days. On Monday, a 33-year-old Sicamous man was killed in a head-on collision near Brent Road. On Feb. 3, a 47-year-old woman died from injuries suffered in a head-on crash near Buchanan Road, past Drought Hill. Since June of last year, four people have been killed in crashes on Highway 97 in and around Peachland. That's four too many for Mayor Cindy Fortin, who has spoken with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to see if something can be done. "They are going to look at making safety improvements along that stretch, and if there is anything they can do in the interim, they will do that as soon as possible," said Fortin. "What and when, I don't know. I just hope they take a serious look at it. It certainly got their attention (Monday) with this latest accident." While she doesn't profess to be an engineer, Fortin had a few suggestions that could improve safety. "Improved lighting would be good and possibly some of those concrete barriers. "I don't think reducing the speed limit is going to make a difference because people want to go the speed they want to go." Fortin said since concrete barriers were put in around Gorman Brothers mill, the number of accidents in that area seems to have gone down. Improved safety measures could be temporary, however, if the province agrees to construct a bypass through the municipality. In December, Minister Todd Stone announced the start of a two-year transportation study for the area including the possibility of an alternative route around Peachland. "Maybe a bypass is the answer and maybe this will spur them on to get the study done sooner than two years. We definitely need it. "It's a long time coming, and it can't happen soon enough." Regardless of what safety measures, if any, are taken in the short-term, Fortin does have a simple message to motorists: slow down and drive to the conditions.
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