Greg Amos/Staff Writer
A Ministry of Transportation (MoT) proposal to squeeze a 1.5-kilometre section of Gibsons Way into two lanes was greeted with displeasure and some outrage by Coast residents attending an open house on Monday night. "I cannot get my head around the fact that this is going to create safety," said an irate Nick Proach, president of the Route 101 Safety Society. "A second route should go in now, while it can be afforded. If this government can't see it, then maybe in May 2009, voters will send a message."
The plan, to take the four-lane section of Highway 101 from North Road to Gibsons' western boundary near Pratt Road and Payne Road and convert it to two lanes with a concrete median, a partial bike lane, left turn bays, and a traffic light at Sunnycrest Road, was presented to nearly 100 people at the Gibsons and Area Community Centre. The $940,000 project budget will carry the Ministry of Highways work over three years, and will involve a trial period during which the median lines will be painted on the road. If the plan isn't working after 18 to 20 months, it will be modified, said ministry of transportation spokesperson Ashok Bhatti.
Computer models show left-turn bays will make traffic safer, but will also incur more delay, said Sharon Goddard from the Sechelt office of the Ministry of Transportation. She added it is the mandate of the Ministry to lower the accident rate in this section of the highway, not to ensure good traffic flow.
"You must realize that bottleneck will move ferry traffic up to Reed Road," commented Grantham's Landing resident Bill Hubbs, to which Bhatti replied the Ministry could co-ordinate traffic lights to move vehicles when the ferry lands.
The idea stems from the Ministry's Highway 101 safety and operational review released last April after a 10-year study period. That study, put together by Richmond-based Urban Systems, found the frequency of collisions is highest at Shaw Road in Gibsons, which sees 3.4 collisions per year, half of which result from left turns. The overall collision rate for the section of Highway 101 running through the Town of Gibsons is 2.58 crashes per million vehicle-kilometres, well above the provincial average.
The Ministry also utilizes a collision severity index, which factors in the significance of fatal crashes compared to those that cause injury or property damage. (The stat does not differentiate between minor injury and serious injuries.)
The stretch of highway running through Gibsons has a collision severity of 6.53, compared to the provincial average of 5.73 for similar stretches of highway. Narrowing traffic to one lane will mean increased headaches for emergency first responders, said Gibsons fire Chief Bob Stevens.
"If there's a concrete median all the way, it's not doable," he said. "We have challenges now with four lanes."
Truck drivers in attendance said they face the similar requirements for a large turning radius, and inquired about the possibility of putting in a central double left-turn lane - commonly called a "suicide lane" - instead of a median. Bhatti said the Ministry's consultant will look into the idea.
Because the road width narrows towards Pratt and Payne roads, the bike lane will end and join what Bhatti called a "shared use lane" for bikes and cars.
To avoid exposing the Ministry to liability issues, Bhatti said a bicycle lane can't be painted in unless it's at least 1.8 metres wide. Acquiring any property to make bike lanes larger is also a no-go, he said, as "land procurement costs could easily double or triple the costs involved."
"How can you take a four-lane highway, knock it down to two lanes, then tell me there's not room for bike lanes?" asked cyclist Steve Sleep, who wasn't enthused about the idea of a shared use lane.
"I don't think it's any better for cyclists to give us a wide lane to share with angry motorists," he added.
In response to several speakers calling for a second highway on the Coast, Bhatti said the costs associated with it are "just extraordinary compared to the benefits -the traffic just isn't there," he said. The ministry has acquired a land right of way necessary to create an extension from the current bypass to Highway 101 near Payne Road.
"We're hoping the Town can get their parallel (road) network in place," he added. The notion was vigorously opposed by one homeowner in the Town, and questioned by Gibsons Mayor Barry Janyk.
"The idea of placing the onus on the Town to be the pressure release for Highway 101 is... difficult," he said, but added "one of the implications of growth is impact on quality of life - that's the way it is."
The project was spearheaded by the Ministry of Transportation, and has been developed in collaboration with the Town of Gibsons and ICBC.
