Local lawmakers are calling for a series of changes on Hwy. 99 in the wake of Saturday's tragedy that saw seven local residents killed.
Squamish council spent a significant amount of time Tuesday (Feb. 3) paying tribute to the people who lost their lives on Jan. 31. Council passed three motions that could lead to changes aimed at preventing another accident similar to the one on Saturday.
After sending condolences to all those affected by the crash, council members passed motions calling for a divided highway, consideration for a reduction in the speed limit through Squamish and more money to beef up local arterial road connections.
"The sirens we all heard on Saturday were alarm bells," Coun. Jeff Dawson said.
Mayor Ian Sutherland initiated the discussion by suggesting that council pass a motion urging the Transportation Ministry to use meridians along all sections of the Sea to Sky Highway Improvement Project.
After a brief discussion, council agreed that the word urge should be replaced with "strongly demand".
The police and coroner's investigations into the crash are ongoing, but indications are that driver fatigue may have been the cause of the accident. Jasdeep Sandhu, the 19-year-old driver of one of the vehicles involved was driving home after an eight-hour overnight shift at the Coast Hotel & Resort in Whistler.
Sandhu wasn't originally planning to drive. He was behind the wheel because the original designated driver was ill.
After passing the meridian motion, council voted to ask the province to consider lowering the speed limit to 60 km-h through urban Squamish.
"I believe that for the section from Burger King to Clark Drive, 60 km-h is an appropriate speed," Sutherland said. "Everybody in Squamish supports that. Some of the skiers at Whistler called me a heathen to the ski industry but I don't give a hoot about the people driving to Whistler. They can slow down to 60."
After approving the motion dealing with the speed limit, council turned its attention to how many highway lanes are needed through Squamish. Most of the highway through Squamish is currently only two lanes.
Council reasoned that residents will use the highway less if there are better links between neighbourhoods in Squamish. This belief prompted council to pass a motion to urge the province to allocate more funds to be used to "beef up the arterial road connections".
Over the course of the week there were many calls for the creation of a commuter bus service between Squamish and Whistler.
The concept began getting serious consideration in 2001. Officials with the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and 小蓝视频 Transit are currently negotiating to make the concept a reality.
A transportation survey conducted in 2001 by 小蓝视频 Transit found that 80 per cent Squamish residents working in Whistler would likely use transit service to Whistler. The survey found at that time that 54 per cent of the commuters carpooled, 13 per cent rode in a vanpool and 29 per cent drove alone.
The five members of the Sikh community who were killed on Saturday carpooled regularly to get to their jobs in Whistler.
"We would like to see a shuttle service or bus service for commuters to Whistler," said Avtar Gidda, secretary of the Squamish Sikh Society. "It's very difficult to drive to Whistler every day and then have to work and drive back to Squamish after an eight-hour shift - it becomes very dangerous."
Each member of Squamish Council took a moment to send personal condolences and Coun. Raj Kahlon delivered his message and then translated it in Punjabi.
"I managed to visit four families when I came home from Lillooet," Kahlon said. He told council that one family had a two-year-old child.
"'How come everyone else is coming and Daddy isn't coming?' the child asked," said Kahlon.
