It was a tough weekend for emergency responders at Cultus Lake.
With beachgoers flocking to the area, and parking where they shouldn91裸聊视频檛, firefighters had a terrible time getting to calls. It91裸聊视频檚 an annual problem along the Columbia Valley Highway, and this time it was caught on video. Two Cultus Lake Fire Department engines creep along the route, sirens blaring, trying to thread the needle between traffic on one side and parked cars on the other.
91裸聊视频淧eople are worried and frustrated and it91裸聊视频檚 time for a solution,91裸聊视频� said local resident Taryn Dixon. 91裸聊视频淎nd it may be time for a tough solution.91裸聊视频�
The past few years, B.C.91裸聊视频檚 Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) has placed pylons along the roadway to discourage visitors from parking along the side. Dixon said there are fewer of them this year, and they haven91裸聊视频檛 been much of a deterrent.
91裸聊视频淭hey get pushed over the edge or tossed in the lake,91裸聊视频� she noted. 91裸聊视频淚 fished a bunch of them out (of the lake) yesterday morning. People park well into the travel lane, and then there91裸聊视频檚 nowhere to walk, so people are walking in the travel lane. They stand in the middle of the road and talk to someone in a vehicle when others are trying to get by.
91裸聊视频淧eople are trying to drive as carefully as possible, but you never know when a door is going to fling open or someone91裸聊视频檚 going to bring their kids out onto the road.91裸聊视频�
Dixon is well connected as the Fraser Valley Regional District91裸聊视频檚 director for Electoral Area H, and she has been sounding the alarm about this for years. She has made Chilliwack-Kent MLA Kelli Paddon aware of it, and has asked the RCMP about increasing ticketing and enforcement.
91裸聊视频淭he real concern is nothing has changed, beyond more and more people coming to Cultus Lake on hot days,91裸聊视频� Dixon said. 91裸聊视频淔or eight years I91裸聊视频檝e been going to the Union of B.C. Municipalities and the province, and we91裸聊视频檙e still in the same place.91裸聊视频�
Dixon said RCMP is the only entity with the authority to ticket or tow, and she acknowledged they have to make decisions on where to deploy resources on busy summer days. But Dixon suggested people who park illegally do so knowing there91裸聊视频檚 no enforcement.
91裸聊视频淚n addition to the pylons, there are sign-boards asking people to respect no-parking zones, warning them towing is in effect and telling them emergency vehicles need access, but those are obviously ignored,91裸聊视频� she observed. 91裸聊视频淭he public believes they can park wherever they want because nothing will happen, and I can see why they think that.91裸聊视频�
To allow the FVRD to ticket and tow would require changes to provincial legislation, and Dixon said that would be 91裸聊视频渁 process.91裸聊视频�
She91裸聊视频檚 suggested allowing B.C. Parks staff to ticket and tow, and had that idea shot down.
She91裸聊视频檚 suggested limiting the number of visitors allowed into the park using a day pass system, but that hasn91裸聊视频檛 gone anywhere.
91裸聊视频淲hen the lots are full in the B.C. Parks area, is there a way to close the road to locals only?91裸聊视频� Dixon mused. 91裸聊视频淲hen those lots are full, it means there are no legal parking spaces. If the goal is to keep people from parking on the side of the road, limiting the number of people coming up is a way to do that.91裸聊视频�
There91裸聊视频檚 even been talk of a shuttle bringing people into Cultus Lake Provincial Park, to keep cars out.
There have been lots of ideas, Dixon said, but little action.
91裸聊视频淔or people living around the lake, this is our highway, our only road in and out of our area, and on any main road there91裸聊视频檚 no way this should be acceptable,91裸聊视频� Dixon said. 91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e asking that it be protected and kept safe for people who live here, but also for guests, and emergency personnel who struggle to get where they need to go.
91裸聊视频淭his needs to be addressed before something tragic happens.91裸聊视频�
eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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