Residents met on Sunday to draw attention to the high frequency of accidents along the Yahk Bridge with the hope of seeing safety improvements to local infrastructure.
The demonstration went on as crews worked to repair the damaged bridge, as the result of an accident last weekend.
Yahk resident Carol Burt spearheaded the effort. She hopes to meet with law enforcement and government representatives to find ways to improve safety.
“We would love to get this out and discuss possible solutions, whether that’s more signage, bigger fines just to make it more of an effective deterrent,” said Burt. “It would be great to have governments start having these conversations about this situation in smaller towns.”
Burt said the accidents highlight the urgency for drivers to slow down.
The Yahk Bridge has been a site of numerous accidents in the past.
“Once you approach, there are lights flashing everywhere, there’s signage, and it catches most drivers off-guard and they’re not slowing down to 30 kilometres per hour,” said Burt. “When you’re headed west and you see a semi come around that corner, a lot of locals will slow give them a wide berth and some will stop before the bridge. This has been happening for a number of years.”
Sunday’s gathering follows two collisions that stopped highway traffic in the area.