Fraser Valley – From Cory Cassel, Director – FVRD Area G: After reading the many posts and comments relating to safety on the highway and roads in the Dewdney, Nicomen Island, Deroche areas, I hope to point folks in the right direction in terms of who to reach out to regarding improvements to our local roads.
Safety along Highway 7 from Mission to Agassiz has been a major concern and point of advocacy for both myself and Director Waardenburg since we were elected to the FVRD Board. Our thoughts are with the families impacted by the accident at Sylvester Rd yesterday. I was in the traffic that was diverted down Eagle, Davies and Sylvester roads and I saw first hand the vehicles involved in the accident – a terrible and troubling scene. In the electoral areas, roads and highways are under the jurisdiction of the Province through the Ministry of Transportation. Both Director Waardenburg and myself have been advocating for a traffic safety study to be done by the Ministry on Highway 7 for several years.
We continue to ask for meetings with the Minister and his staff but we need residents of the area to add their voices to the cause. The elected provincial representative for our area is MLA Tony Luck and the Ministry of Transportation is under the authority of Minister Mike Farnworth. We believe it would be helpful for residents to call and email both MLA Luck and Minister Farnworth. Contact info for MLA Luck – Email: Tony.Luck.MLA@leg.bc.ca Phone: 236 900-4926. Contact info for Minister Farnworth – Email: TT.Minister@gov.bc.ca Phone: 250-387-1978. We will continue to advocate for improved safety on the highway and ask residents to do the same. The Lougheed Highway leaves the City of Mission at Hatzic Lake so this is not an issue for Mission City Council – we need to advocate to the provincial government to make the highway safer and request a light be installed at Sylvester Rd.
If anyone has any other questions or concerns, my email address is ccassel@fvrd.ca.
Calls to the Ministry of Transportation Fraser Valley Operation office in Chilliwack might also be a good idea – 604-795-8211 and ask for the appropriate staff contact for intersection safety.
