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Clearwater meeting highlights community’s ‘visceral’ fears of Highway 5 road safety

Local representatives concerned highway patrol may centralize in Kamloops
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Councillor Ken Matheson said the recent Highway 5 collisions exposed first responders to traumatic scenes they did not sign up for. (Submitted file photo)

Some Clearwater community members are afraid to use Highway 5 after multiple fatal collisions throughout the past two months, they told local representatives at a recent community meeting.

“This is not just stats, this is something very visceral, the fear and anxiety,” Councillor Ken Matheson told the Clearwater Times.

Matheson took the lead organizing the meeting on March 16 at the Dutch Lake Community centre, which roughly 20 residents attended to share their perspectives with district council.

The three recent fatal collisions on Feb. 2, Feb. 9 and March 1 made clear a trend that Matheson said he observed firsthand from his many years of experience driving along Highway 5. The road is busier and riskier to drive than it was a decade ago.

Some seniors in town who used to take trips into Kamloops to shop as part of their social routine now opt to shop online rather than risk the roads. Meanwhile, volunteer first responders and tow-truck drivers are considering leaving their posts after being exposed to the traumatic scenes, he added.

“They have gone above and beyond any call of duty,” he said. “I’d like to give a big shout out to those first responders.”

At the meeting, Matheson also heard stories about close calls, even amid the increase of Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement (CVSE) and BC Highway Patrol officers on the highway. During his recent trips to Kamloops, he personally saw as many as twelve commercial vehicles pulled over.

However, added congestion on the highway from the upcoming tourist season, and the end of the enforcement era could create a large problem for road safety, he said. Especially if the three BC Highway Patrol officers currently stationed in Clearwater are based out of Kamloops.

“My big concern is what happens when this enforcement blitz leaves town? I believe that is going to happen around the end of March. We’re back to normal,” he said. “There is talk of moving the whole section down to Kamloops. It seems ludicrous to me.”

Matheson would like to see the Clearwater RCMP BC Highway Patrol unit increased to at least five members and plans to lobby for that change. Another way of tackling the problem is through infrastructure, such as adding more pull-out areas along the route.

Thompson Nicola Regional District director Usoff Tsao told the Clearwater Times he invited people from neighbouring communities in the region and Simpcw First Nation to attend the community meeting. Ironically, some people chose to not attend the meeting to avoid driving on the highway, he said.

He echoed Matheson’s concerns about centralizing the BC Highway Patrol, adding that it is nearly impossible for officers based in Kamloops to be responsible for the stretch of highway leading all the way up to Blue River.

At the community meeting, he heard that aggressive drivers remain a pervasive problem, even though the dangers posed by commercial vehicles have decreased with the surge of enforcement. Meanwhile, Tsao plans to ask the province about the possibility of road upgrades such as adding passing lanes, because there has not been a budget to improve the highway’s safety since 2019, he said.

Many potential solutions are out of these local representatives’ hands. Both Matheson and Tsao said they are advocating for change to the provincial and federal levels of government, but RCMP and highway infrastructure are squarely outside of their jurisdiction.

“It is frustrating,” Matheson said. “But it is also not about the government solving all of our problems, it is grassroots too… We have to take control of our own highways.”

To take back some control, Matheson encouraged residents at the meeting to hold community members accountable and set a positive example of safe driving. Residents can make use of dash cams and take detailed notes about instances of unsafe driving to make effective reports to the RCMP.

Community members who are ready to take a stand against unsafe driving also need to be prepared to testify in court, Matheson said.

Read More: 3 dead, 2 critically injured in Highway 5 multi-vehicle collision

Read More: Mayors plea for Hwy. 5 changes after multiple fatal crashes near Clearwater, Barriere



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