
Vernon City Council wants to continue to push the Ministry of Transportation for safety improvements in the city months after a young Vernon resident died while crossing Highway 97.
Pedestrian safety was raised in Monday’s council meeting during administration updates. Council previously asked about building a scramble cross walk at Highway 97 and 30th Avenue – these crossings stop all vehicle traffic and allow pedestrians to cross in any direction.
City staff say the intersection is MoTi jurisdiction and it’s unlikely they’d support the crossing as it causes a delay to drivers where MoTi’s primary is to keep transport traffic moving rather than pedestrians.
The intersection is in the middle of downtown Vernon, and is where 15-year-old Lynza Henke was struck while legally crossing as a pedestrian. The teen was rushed to hospital and put on life support for nearly a month before passing away this August.
Coun.’s Brian Quiring and Brian Guy said it’s time for council to toughen up in order to achieve both pedestrian safety and good traffic flow.
“This ministry has a highway that runs right through our town … where traffic on their highway has killed people,” said Guy.
“Maybe we need to roll up our sleeves, put on our boxing gloves, and not take it anymore, because it's always just no,” said Quiring about city requests to the ministry.
Mayor Victor Cumming said the Highway 97 corridor is a significant concern for other municipalities as well.
The update comes amid a highway corridor study conducted by the city as a part of its transportation plan, but with provincial involvement in conversations. The scramble crosswalk will be presented for consideration to the ministry as a part of the study, but hasn't been officially pitched to them yet, meaning the province hasn't officially declined or accepted the suggestion.