A Penticton woman has created a petition asking the City of Penticton and the Ministry of Transportation to install a traffic light at the intersection of Highway 97 and Skaha Lake Road.
The petition was started Friday, July 31 by Jfraya Des Roches after she became fed up with the seemingly constant stream of collisions in the area.
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“In between the Penticton airport, and the intersection of Highway 97 and Skaha Lake Road, is a small trailer park, Sun Leisure. When you come to leave, you can go right or left but there is no light to indicate to other drivers that someone is trying to turn or cross,” said Des Roches in the petition. “Every year there are multiple injuries and car accidents due to this lack of planning and modernizing the roads to adjust to traffic flow.
“With Highway 97 being our main artery in and out of city limits, the rage and frustration on the roads have only increased.”
In Penticton, there were 2,296 motor-vehicle incidents in 2019, with 137 crashes occurring on Highway 97.
The lack of light at the intersection has led to frequent stand-still traffic on the south-end due to collisions caused by incorrect left turns or mistaken seconds of space in cars, claimed Des Roches.
“Some sort of light would benefit not only the locals who live here year-round but also the tourists,” read the petition.
As of Aug. 4 the petition has garnered over 450 signatures. The petition can be found here.
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jesse.day@pentictonwesternnews.com
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