Lougheed Highway is now brighter and safer at night, thanks to $1.8-million in street light improvements between Laity and 220th streets.
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows MLA Lisa Beare said Thursday that the project has been completed.
Lougheed Highway has been the site of several accidents and fatalities in recent years as people tried to cross in dimly lit areas.
RELATED: New street lights for dark section of Lougheed Highway.
The new street lights were installed along the two-kilometre stretch as of May 30. ICBC contributed about $95,000 to the project.
“This dark stretch of highway was a safety hazard for the people of Maple Ridge for decades and upgrades were long overdue,” Beare said in a release.
From 2013 to 2017, there were 471 collisions on this section of highway. According to ICBC, eight of these crashes involved pedestrians and seven involved cyclists, said a release.
It also says that illumination at urban intersections can reduce pedestrian-related, night-time collisions by 42 per cent.
Lighting on highways can reduce night-time vehicle collisions by 21 per cent.
Tassis Vix, a 31-year-old mother who worked at a local veterinary clinic, was killed in a hit-and-run incident at night in the 21800-block of Lougheed Highway in April 2018.
READ ALSO: Mother identified as pedestrian killed in hit-and-run on Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge.
In April 2015, 38-year-old Gordon Michael Acker, of Merritt, was killed after being struck by an eastbound vehicle while trying to cross the highway near 216th Street at night.
READ ALSO: Pedestrian hit, killed on Lougheed Highway.
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