The Similkameen News Leader
Editorial
March 24, 2009
WATCH FOR ROCK ON ROAD
Mayor Randy McLean made his feelings known about Highway 3 in no uncertain terms during a recent Town Council meeting. To quickly explain, Ministry of Transportation representatives spoke at the March 16th public meeting. Mayor McLean used the opportunity to remind them of many empty promises made over the years regarding repairs to the highway.
When the Coquilhalla Highway had a toll on it, one of the promises made was that a portion of the money collected was going to be spent on upgrading other highways in the region.
Highways 3 and 5A have been virtually ignored, and in case you forgot, the toll has since been lifted from the Coquilhalla Highway.
The elected officials in communities along the Highway 3 Corridor formed an informal group identified as the Highway 3 Mayors and Chairs Committee.
Their top priority has always been to lobby for improvements to Highway 3.
The concept made sense and continues to but whenever an attempt is made in Victoria to argue the case the usual response is that traffic volumes on Highway 3 didn't warrant serious attention.
I suspect the Princeton BC Ambulance station and Highway Extrication Society (Road Rescue Team) would beg to differ on that point concerning this stretch of highway.
I really think highway upgrades can be twisted into another election issue if we really wanted it to be and I think Mayor McLean only tapped on it lightly.
If anyone's looking for a real issue to protest about around town I suggest you pick the highways. And forget about protesting in downtown Princeton about it get right out on the highway. Block traffic for part of the day by crossing back and forth at the poor excuse of a highway crossing at Burton Avenue.
With the right kind of motivation and all day to spend it traffic could be held up at that crossing for hours. Maybe that would get the word out.
The Mayors and Chairs should do the same thing where Highway 3 passes through their communities. The protests should be timed to take place at the exact same time on the same day, which will in effect shut the entire route down.
And do it frequently. Once a week or so just to rub it in a little that rural BC can still wag the dog. If Victoria hasn't heard the message in the past 15+ years, maybe they'll get the message this way. Seeing as it's close to a Provincial Election just imagine what such a shutdown could do for some election campaigns.
I can see it now. Campaign slogans like "my way or the highway" would suddenly take on a whole new meaning.
So when should we shut down Highway 3 this week?
