Concrete barriers coming to Highway 97A, but not fast enough says victim’s family

Following two deadly collisions in less than a year along Highway 97A south of Armstrong, MLA Eric Foster says concrete barriers are on the way.

In an interview with Vernon Matters, the Vernon Monashee MLA said the Ministry of Transportation approved concrete barriers for the highway this fall.

“The engineering has all been done, and the risk assessment and so on is all finished, and the ministry has determined that they will be installing a meridian,” Foster said.

While inital approval was given, it still needs to go through the upcoming provincial budget in February to get the go-ahead for funding.

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Foster began pushing for a meridian after meeting with the family of a woman who was killed in February following a head on collision near Pleasant Valley Rd. and Highway 97A. The crash site was just metres away from where a second woman was killed Sunday.

Jessica Tabe tragically lost her grandmother, Ruth Blencoe in the February collision and says more needs to be done to speed up the process.

“Nothing still has been done and now someone else has now died on that highway from a head on collision just like my grandma. It just doesn’t make sense, like why isn’t this important?” Tabe said.

Blencoe, a well-known dance studio owner and teacher died after her vehicle slid across the centre line and hit an oncoming vehicle.

Tabe launched a petition calling for the barriers as soon as she heard about the serious collision Sunday afternoon.

“With a highway speed of 100 km/h, there is no reason this highway should not be divided. The space in the center is permitting of a meridian,” the petition read.

A link to the petition can be found here.

Vernon Matters has reached out to the Ministry of Transportation for more details.