I am a frequent user of many of the businesses along the frontage road that intersects with Stickle Road and I am glad to see some action is being considered to mitigate the risk associated with the intersection to Highway 97.
What is annoying is the continual obstacles being presented by the Ministry of Transportation to the wishes of the businesses along the frontage road and the citizens’ request for a traffic light.
In the July 17 edition of The Morning Star, there is an article by Richard Rolke about the Stickle Road intersection as it relates to the taxpayers and residents of Vernon’s request for a traffic light at the intersection as opposed to, so far, a couple of different and supposedly safer solutions from the Ministry of Transportation safety engineers.
There is also unanimous support from the mayor and city councillors for the traffic light. The logic presented by the engineers as reported in the article is somewhat perplexing to me as there are already two such traffic light-controlled intersections on Highway 97 in the immediate area.
The first being at Smith Drive in Armstrong and another in Coldstream at College Way.
At both of these intersections, the speed limit as you approach them is 90 kilometres per hour and returns to 90 kilometres in the case of College Way and actually to 100 kilometres per hour at Smith Drive once you are past them.
Also of interest is the fact that within half-a-kilometre of the Stickle intersection southbound, there already exists a warning caution to the ramp over the 27th Street exit to reduce speed to 70 kilometres, albeit a lighting vision caution.
The rationale that the safety issue as presented at these two intersections with the highway and the Stickle intersection being different is at best ludicrous.
Quoting Rolke’s article, “The traffic engineers say a light won’t help there,” said MLA Eric Foster. “The ministry insists a signal would negatively impact traffic flow and thousands of cars go through there every day.”
I’m not sure what science supports these statements and I have no data to support the following either but if I was a betting man I would bet that a highly significant portion of those thousands of cars daily also pass through the Smith Drive and College Way intersections on Highway 97.
I guess when the ministry, in its infinite wisdom, decided to install the lights at Smith Drive and College Way, the objective was to negatively impact the traffic flow and safety. No that can’t be right. Any reasonably sensible person can see that’s totally illogical.
The lack of continuity in the rationale and logic in the ministry’s position to Stickle in light of the already existing two intersections is puzzling.
It makes one wonder if this is not a budgetary issue.
Whatever the real reason that the ministry so strongly opposes the wishes of the public and Vernon’s elected officials, its objective should be to find a solution that meets the needs of the taxpayers, not do everything in its power to thwart that request.
The days of government bureaucracies giving the public whatever answers to questions raised to their actions being accepted as carte blanche are or should be over.
Taxpayers are entitled to well analyzed, rationale and logical answers supported by documented scientific data and examples of similar solutions used when available. Not, the traffic engineers simply saying a light won’t help.
Duane Mather
Vernon
