A new set of road reflectors has just been installed along Highway 18 between Lake Cowichan and the Trans Canada Highway junction.
Work started earlier this month and was recently completed in what is an attempt to improve drivers’ visibility.
“The ministry installed and replaced 26 kilometres of recessed reflectors along the centre line on Highway 18, between Highway 1 and Youbou Road, to improve road safety and visibility for motorists,” Robert Adam from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) said in an e-mail.
“The reflectors are six years old and need to be replaced. The ministry will also install new pavement grooves to ensure the reflectors are level.”
But despite the inevitable improvements, they may still not be satisfactory as yet for some local road users.
Cyndi Charles, who lives in Lake Cowichan, is glad to see the new reflectors put in place but believes the whole process will be classed a waste of time if “they aren’t high enough.”
“Last time the ministry put them in, they weren’t high enough, so when water got in there, you would end up seeing them being washed to the side of the road,” she said.
Despite the reflectors’ appearance, Charles says there’s still more work to be done to improve drivers’ safety, particularly at night.
“There’s so much more work to be done between Lake Cowichan and Honeymoon Bay,” she said. “It’s ridiculous there’s no white lines on the side of the road. When you look down to see the edge on the side of the road, you can’t see anything [at night].”
Charles recalls the day when she claims Andy Newell, MoTI’s regional area manager of roads, travelled along the road into Lake Cowichan and then onto Honeymoon Bay and highlighted a number of improvements that needed to be done.
Charles insists that hasn’t happened yet.
“It’s about time they started doing what they’re supposed to do.”
