Another crash at the dangerous Kaleden section of Highway 97 Wednesday morning.
Southbound lanes near the Kaleden gas station were down to one lane and at least one ambulance was at the scene around 10:15 a.m. this morning.
It appears the crash has been mostly cleared as of 11 a.m.
This intersection has been notorious for years as being a high crash and close-call area calling on local politicians to ask for safety improvements there. A petition created by a concerned citizen created thousands of signatures in days.
There is a blind spot turning left from Highway 3A to Highway 97 that leaves drivers having to navigate oncoming traffic and vehicles coming from the south.
Subrina Monteith, the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen director for Kaleden, had been pushing for improvements to the corridor long before the ministry announced in January that changes would be made.
They approved a designated left hand turn to be installed on Highway 97.
But a lack of interested contractors has put safety improvements for the dangerous intersection on Highway 97 on hold.
The Ministry of Transportation received no bids from contractors for the planned project that promised to add a protected left-turn lane at the junction with Highway 3A.
Many contractors have already committed to other projects around the province and don’t have the capacity to take on additional jobs, the ministry said.
READ MORE: Safety improvements to dangerous Highway 97 and 3A intersection near Penticton delayed
