It was a tough weekend for emergency responders at Cultus Lake.
With beachgoers flocking to the area, and parking where they shouldn鈥檛, firefighters had a terrible time getting to calls. It鈥檚 an annual problem along the Columbia Valley Highway, and this time it was caught on video. Two Cultus Lake Fire Department engines creep along the route, sirens blaring, trying to thread the needle between traffic on one side and parked cars on the other.
鈥淧eople are worried and frustrated and it鈥檚 time for a solution,鈥� said local resident Taryn Dixon. 鈥淎nd it may be time for a tough solution.鈥�
The past few years, B.C.鈥檚 Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) has placed pylons along the roadway to discourage visitors from parking along the side. Dixon said there are fewer of them this year, and they haven鈥檛 been much of a deterrent.
鈥淭hey get pushed over the edge or tossed in the lake,鈥� she noted. 鈥淚 fished a bunch of them out (of the lake) yesterday morning. People park well into the travel lane, and then there鈥檚 nowhere to walk, so people are walking in the travel lane. They stand in the middle of the road and talk to someone in a vehicle when others are trying to get by.
鈥淧eople are trying to drive as carefully as possible, but you never know when a door is going to fling open or someone鈥檚 going to bring their kids out onto the road.鈥�
Dixon is well connected as the Fraser Valley Regional District鈥檚 director for Electoral Area H, and she has been sounding the alarm about this for years. She has made Chilliwack-Kent MLA Kelli Paddon aware of it, and has asked the RCMP about increasing ticketing and enforcement.
鈥淭he real concern is nothing has changed, beyond more and more people coming to Cultus Lake on hot days,鈥� Dixon said. 鈥淔or eight years I鈥檝e been going to the Union of B.C. Municipalities and the province, and we鈥檙e still in the same place.鈥�
Dixon said RCMP is the only entity with the authority to ticket or tow, and she acknowledged they have to make decisions on where to deploy resources on busy summer days. But Dixon suggested people who park illegally do so knowing there鈥檚 no enforcement.
鈥淚n addition to the pylons, there are sign-boards asking people to respect no-parking zones, warning them towing is in effect and telling them emergency vehicles need access, but those are obviously ignored,鈥� she observed. 鈥淭he public believes they can park wherever they want because nothing will happen, and I can see why they think that.鈥�
To allow the FVRD to ticket and tow would require changes to provincial legislation, and Dixon said that would be 鈥渁 process.鈥�
She鈥檚 suggested allowing B.C. Parks staff to ticket and tow, and had that idea shot down.
She鈥檚 suggested limiting the number of visitors allowed into the park using a day pass system, but that hasn鈥檛 gone anywhere.
鈥淲hen the lots are full in the B.C. Parks area, is there a way to close the road to locals only?鈥� Dixon mused. 鈥淲hen those lots are full, it means there are no legal parking spaces. If the goal is to keep people from parking on the side of the road, limiting the number of people coming up is a way to do that.鈥�
There鈥檚 even been talk of a shuttle bringing people into Cultus Lake Provincial Park, to keep cars out.
There have been lots of ideas, Dixon said, but little action.
鈥淔or people living around the lake, this is our highway, our only road in and out of our area, and on any main road there鈥檚 no way this should be acceptable,鈥� Dixon said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e asking that it be protected and kept safe for people who live here, but also for guests, and emergency personnel who struggle to get where they need to go.
鈥淭his needs to be addressed before something tragic happens.鈥�
eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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