Editor:
The following is a letter addressed to B.C. Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Rob Fleming and shared with Coast Reporter.
We have long implored you and your government to act to provide us with a real highway to improve safety and liveability on the Sunshine Coast.
We now read that a Provincial Court judge has acknowledged that the failure to maintain our current road may have been a factor in the death of a motorcyclist in a 2022 accident on Highway 101. We are deeply saddened to note that the passing of one person and the trauma suffered by the other driver from this incident might well have been prevented if you and your staff had acted to maintain the painted lines on the road surface, which showed significant wear. Judge Merrick told the court that “The reality of driving on Highway 101 is that there are portions of the highway where the centre lines aren’t painted as well as they should be.”
This combined with your failure to adequately maintain many other stretches of the road points to an abdication of your staff’s duties.
We have long been concerned that any meaningful action on a real highway for the Southern Sunshine Coast will only happen when the casualties rise to an unacceptable level. We must ask, Mr. Minister, how many is that?
Robin Merriott
for Sunshine Coast Highway Society
