Blackwater Residents Concerned For Driving Safety

Nov 23, 2017 | 12:50 PM

Work began on widening Highway 16 west between Bunce Road and Jenson Road this summer. The highway has seen enough of an increase in traffic to warrant the work. But the configuration of the intersection at Blackwater Road is giving some area residents headaches.
“When you come up to the intersection, you have to look just about straight behind you to get onto [the highway],” explains area resident, Randy Isaac. “Before, when it came up to a stop sign, you could see if anybody’s coming, but now, the traffic is coming right in your blind side.”  
But there are as many concerns coming off the highway onto Blackwater Road.
“You can’t see the markings on the road, for one thing,” says another area resident, Claude LeBlanc. “And it’s very narrow when you’re turning left and there’s traffic coming from the west. It’s a dangerous situation.”
He adds, a lot of people don’t realize Blackwater Road itself is an active logging road. Both feel there should be a return of the merge lane, and soon.
The matter was brought to the attention of the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George via Area C Director Lara Beckett.
“I’m surprised there isn’t more overhead light of some sort. I think that would illuminate the area better. That  would help.”
The Regional District Board has opted to meet with the contractor, IDL, to see if those two options could be incorporated at that intersection to improve safety at that location.