I t was a nice summer day for a drive so off we went. As we left the built-up area at the outskirts, we increased the speed to 90 kilometres on a four-lane, divided highway. There was a moderate amount of traffic with a semi on my right and a couple of cars in front and behind. Around a curve and we see an overhead sign ahead indicating a traffic light is about to change to red. We all approach the intersection and stop.
Now this intersection is on Highway 97 so it has two lanes going each way, with left-hand turn lanes for traffic to cross safely
To the west is a small road that leads to a bit of residential and some trailers, and on the east side is a well used road that leads to a large residential area. The light changes to green and we, as well as the traffic coming the other way, proceed on our merry way.
Now this may sound like what could be Stickle Road but it is at the other end of town at College Way.
This intersection has been here since the highway was four-laned and I don`t recall reading about the constant carnage we will have if this setup is done at Stickle Road.
There is probably more traffic at this intersection than at Stickle because of the amount of traffic that goes south to Kelowna that does not go north on a daily basis.
If this type of intersection is OK there, why is it not OK at Stickle as both intersections are roughly the same distance from town, both are on 90-kilometre-an-hour, four-lane highways and both have large traffic volumes from the east and low volume from the west. If we can handle the College Way intersection, I don’t understand why we would not be able to take Stickle in our stride.
We don’t need to compare Vernon to Kamloops or Kelowna. We only need to see how well we have been served by a similar intersection in our own backyard.
R. Payne
Vernon