B.C.'s transportation ministry doesn't share a Deep Creek parent's concern about a Highway 97B intersection where her daughter was recently involved in a motor-vehicle collision.
"We were very lucky that our daughter didn't die! What about the next family?" said Joy de Vos, who recently reached out to different levels of government to share concerns about the Highway 97B/Deep Creek Road intersection.
De Vos, who lives near the intersection, wants a left-turn lane added on 97B.
Exacerbated by 97B being used as a detour during closures of Highway 1 at Sicamous for construction of the Bruhn Bridge, de Vos' concerns with the intersection became personal when, on Saturday, May 31, her daughter was involved in a collision. She said her daughter was waiting in the northbound lane of 97B, turning signal on, waiting for oncoming traffic to pass so she could turn left onto Deep Creek Road, when she was rear-ended by a northbound vehicle and pushed into oncoming traffic. She was hit by two vehicles within seconds, said de Vos, the one that rear ended her and one in the southbound lane.
While the vehicle was destroyed, there was no damage to the driver's door and de Vos' daughter was able to get out with minor injuries.
In a recent letter that was sent to the Ministry of Transportation and Transport and others, de Vos asked to "grade the embankment and place a retaining wall on the east side of Hwy. 97B to permit a dedicated lane for the thru-traffic that is not turning left."
Based on 2022 traffic counts and assessment, as well as a more recent alternate route assessment for the Highway 1/Bruhn Bridge project, the intersection was "not identified "as a critical constraint during that time."
"In 2022, the Ministry of Transportation and Transit conducted traffic counts and assessed the intersection at Highway 97B and Deep Creek Road. Based on provincial criteria, a dedicated left-turn lane was not warranted at that time…," said the ministry via email. "The ministry recognizes that traffic patterns can change over time.
"While no major upgrades are currently planned, traffic and safety conditions in the area remains diligently monitored."
De Vos said her family is extremely disappointed by the ministry's response and its "failure to acknowledge the serious inherent risks at the corner of Deep Creek Road and Hwy. 97B."
"Everyone that has to turn left northbound onto Deep Creek Road experiences vehicles passing at high speed over the white line on the shoulder," said de Vos. "This is a main intersection on an awkward blind corner! What will the ministry do when a fatal accident happens at this intersection after ignoring the pleas of our family and the area residents?
"Ministry of Highways, DO BETTER!"
I
