City pleads with province for safer limits along "million-dollar alley"
By Kyra Hoggan
Ed. Note: The Castlegar Source was able to reach the communications director at the Ministry of Transportation (MoT) in regard to this story – but not until roughly an hour before press time. The director was both forthcoming and helpful but, due to the unreasonable timeline we presented him, unable to provide a response before this posting. He did, however, promise to speak to the ministry’s perspective on the issue, which will be posted in this feature-story position as soon as is possible.
Photo by Harold Chernoff: A recent collision along “million-dollar alley” sends both drivers to hospital.
The City of Castlegar will once again be asking the province for a reduction in the speed limit along Highway 22 in front of Trowelex and The Brick, a stretch of highway sometimes referred to as “million-dollar alley” in reference to the toll it takes in lives, injuries and vehicular damage.
Mayor Lawrence Chernoff said council hasn’t given up on seeing the speed reduced from its current 90 kilometre-per-hour (kph) – but they’re not holding their breath, either, given how many times they’ve asked for a reduction and been refused.
“How many times have we asked? I don’t think we can count that high … of course, I’m kidding, but we have asked repeatedly.
“We just want our city to be safe and, at the present moment, we just don’t believe it’s safe there,” he said.
So why does the province continue to refuse the city’s requests?
“I think they don’t want to slow the traffic flow along an important highway corridor,” Chernoff said. “But I think they should be listening to the community – we’re the ones who are here and see the repercussions.”
He further pointed out that many motorists don’t honour the speed limit.
“I’d bet the majority of travellers (on that stretch of highway) are doing 100 kph or greater,” he said.
Councillor Gord Turner, who suggested presenting the request once again to the MoT, also suggested, this time, soliciting the support of the RCMP, ICBC and the local fire department to add weight to the plea.
Councillor Kevin Chernoff, whose business (Trowelex) overlooks the highway corridor, said he absolutely supports the request.
“The accidents seem to be getting more frequent, and I don’t see it getting better in the near future wihtout the ministry doing something about the speed – there aren’t many other options for dealing with this,” he said.
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