LeftTurnNow.com - "Democracy In Action!"
Updated: September 26, 2008 - Check back often for updates.

This website has been designed to give Prince George residents, workers and visitors of the Veteran's Land Act Subdivision (VLA) area an efficient way to express their frustrations, complaints and comments to the government authorities who have the power and ability to facilitate the installation of a safe user-friendly left-turn lane access into the VLA on Highway 97 south at Spruce/ Victoria/ Ford Streets.

[ Conceptual Design | July 7 Letter | Dave Orr | News Article | Info Sheet | Info Map ] To learn more Click Here.

CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS

Minister Falcon, on August 25, 2008, rejected requests and an urgent plea to meet with community members prior to releasing his "final" decision on the left turn lane and chose instead to allow the heavy hand of his Ministry to befall on the residents, workers and visitors of the VLA without discussion. In his press release Minister Falcon said he will not permit the construction of the left turn lane because an "independent" study (which ministry officials, Rick Blixrud and Shanna Mason commissioned EBA Engineering to do) claims a left turn lane "would be unsafe and interrupt Hwy 97 traffic flow". However, the study's outcome is very problematic because among many other things, the study has a very narrow focus and the authors sought no input or involvement from city officials or community members. Upon reviewing the study; residents, workers and visitors of the VLA are left very puzzled how the Ministry was ever able to approve many of the other left turn lanes they are familiar with around Prince George, most particularly the one at Hwy 97 & 18th avenue and the new one currently being installed by the City of PG at Recplace drive on Hwy 16w.

As numerous residents, workers and visitors of the VLA are alleging that there is serious unfairness taking place within the Ministry regarding the left turn lane request for the VLA, the public action committee, LeftTurnNow.com is currently in the process of making a number of Freedom of Information requests to the Ministry to gather all the information on this left turn lane request as well as many of the other left turn lanes the public is familiar with. Provided the government fully co-operates and allows LeftTurnNow.com to recieve this public information unimpeded by the large fees which the government is now trying to charge to release them, LeftTurnNow.com will disseminate the information to the public for the public benefit of better public understanding of: a) the full and actual processes by which left turn lanes are given fair consideration and/or approved, b) the important matters of public safety and interest typically considered regarding left turn lanes, c) the actual procedure by which public and financial resources are allocated to construct left turn lanes in the province, d) other matters of public interest which the records will likely contain.

What can I do about this?

Please fill in all the required fields below to continue to let Shirley Bond and the Government know that you still need this safe, user-friendly left-turn installed NOW!

Feel free to let Hon. Shirley Bond, MLA, Minister Falcon and other officials know what you think of the Province's "preferred basic access route" into the VLA area.

When you click the SUBMIT button, all of the information in this form will be sent to Hon. Shirley Bond, MLA and to the people listed below.

If you wish to also express your complaint and frustrations in a more public forum please click and send a copy of your letter to P.G. Citizen Letter to the Editor,  P.G. Free Press Letter to the Editor and Opinion 250.

[ Conceptual Design | July 7 Letter | Dave Orr | News Article | Info Sheet | Info Map ]  To learn more Click Here.

 

Hon. Kevin Falcon, Minister of Transportation Minister.Transportation@gov.bc.ca Ph: 1-250-387-1978		Hon. Gordon Campbell gordon.campbell.mla@leg.bc.ca, premier@gov.bc.ca Ph: 250 387-1715
Hon. Shirley Bond, MLA Minister.Educ@gov.bc.ca, shirley.bond.mla@leg.bc.ca Ph: 250-612-4181		City Council mayorandcouncil@city.pg.bc.ca
Hon. Pat Bell, MLA pat.bell.mla@leg.bc.ca Ph 250-612-4194		Mayor Colin Kinsley mayor@city.pg.bc.ca Ph: 250-561-7609
John Rustad, MLA john.rustad.mla@leg.bc.ca Ph: 250-964-5650		Don Basserman bassermann@shaw.ca Ph: 250-563-4705
Carole James, Leader of the NDP carole.james.mla@leg.bc.ca Ph: 250-952-4211 or 250-387-3655		Shirley Gratton grattons@netbistro.com Ph: 250-962-7055
Dick Harris, MP Harris.R@parl.gc.ca Ph: 250-564-7771		Murry Krause murry.krause@cinhs.org Ph: 250-564-4422
Jay Hill, MP Hill.J@parl.gc.ca Ph: 250-787-1194		Debora Munoz deboramunoz@shaw.ca Ph: 250-963-9472
Glenn Stanker, City Transportation Engineer gstanker@city.pg.bc.ca Ph: 250-561-7757		Glen Scott glenscott@telus.net Ph: 250-963-9472
Sherry Sethen sherrysethen@shaw.ca Ph: 250-563-6557
Brian Skakun bska@shaw.ca Ph: 250-964-2489
Don Zurowski don@zurowski.bc.ca Ph: 250-562-9622
Maurine Karagianis, Opposition Transportation Critic maurine.karagianis.mla@leg.bc.ca Ph: 250-387-3655
LeftTurnNow.com

 

Background

For years residents, travelers and the P.G. community have been unsatisfied with the lack of a safe user-friendly southbound left-turn access from Highway 97 into the Veteran's Land Act Subdivision (VLA) area at Spruce, Victoria, and Ford streets. (e.g. a safe left-turn similar to the ones installed on the Highway at 18th Ave (CNC), Range road (Costco/Woodwheaton), for the Treasure Cove Casino and many other places in the P.G. area). The lack of this sensible safe left-turn frustrates motorists, contributes to unsafe traffic congestion at various locations on Ferry Avenue and causes people to make risky U-turns in the middle of Highway 97.

For over twenty years, employees and business owners at Spruce and Ford Streets in the VLA have been on the front line for hearing complaints daily from tourists and residents about this frustrating and unsafe transportation condition and get tired of hearing all these Ministry of Transportation's complaints (also - the amount of time wasted by people giving directions is staggering). So to give people a place to vent their frustrations, over the years various petitions asking the government to do something were placed at the each of the businesses. This was thought to be the best way to let the Ministry know about the problem and that they had a bunch of unhappy, frustrated taxpayers, residents and travellers here. In 2001 Bill Lynch, Chair of the P.G. Development Corp (now called Initiatives P.G.) submitted a petition and in his letter he asked the government to take immediate action to remedy the situation. But the government has only stonewalled and ignored these past petitions.

Most recently, on March 26, 2008, a public petition with over 6000 supporters was submitted to the government to have this safe, user-friendly left-turn installed as part of the roadwork for the $42 million Simon Fraser Bridge Twinning Project (which is the most feasible time to build it, since crews will already be working in the area to widen and realign the highway). The seven local businesses submitted the petition jointly and because they don't want to see this perfect opportunity be ignored again, they committed to contribute $10,000.00 each for a total of $70,000.00 to help out if it is done along with the bridge project. A letter from L&M Engineering (an experienced local engineering firm), which was also submitted along with the petition, confirmed that a safe left-turn is entirely possible to do and that the most feasible time for the government to build it is at the same time as the Bridge Project.

On March 31, 2008 the seven businesses went to City Council to present them with a copy of the petition and requested Council's support to convince the Province to include it with the Bridge Project, to which Council voted unanimously to do. On April 2, 2008 Mayor Colin Kinsley sent a letter to the Minister of Transportation requesting the Left turn be included with the Bridge Project.

Federal MP's, Dick Harris and Jay Hill also received copies of the petition and on April 8, 2008 Dick Harris sent a letter to the Minister of Transportation stating he is also in support of the left-turn. Both MP's have subsequently indicated that if additional federal funds are needed for the project, all the province needs to do is make application under the Building Canada Fund and it can access additional funding to help out.

 

Where are things at Now?

The two top local bureaucrats in the Ministry of Transportation, Shanna Mason, the Regional Director; and Rick Blixrud, the District Manager called a meeting with the seven businesses on May 22, 2008. The bureaucrats said they wanted to hire an out-of-town engineer to do a traffic study to confirm that a Left-turn would be a good way to improve access to the area and to confirm the exact size it should be. Even though Shanna and Rick recognized that the left-turn could be built now with the bridge project for a fraction of the cost that it would take at any other time, Shanna said she made the decision they were not going to do it with the bridge roadwork and insited they needed to hear directly from the public before it is included. Shanna and Rick also said that because they haven't heard many complaints directly from residents, motorists and tourists, they don't think there is any problem with the current situation and will be ignoring the 6000 name petition.

On July 7, 2008 LeftTurnNow.com has resubmitted the 6000 name petition to the Minister and have obtained a Conceptual Plan from L&M Engineering with estimates of under $500,000 for the Ministry to build the left-turn with the Bridge Project.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Who is LeftTurnNow.com?
A. LeftTurnNow.com is the name of a community action group who is very concerned about the negative impacts which the absence of a user-friendly left-turn has on Public Safety, the Environment, and the Common-Good.  We are founded and made up of a large number of persons who live, work and visit in the VLA area and we have the support of over 6000 people who signed the petition requesting the installation of a safe user-friendly left-turn now!

Q. Should the businesses pay 100%?
A. No. This is a public safety issue. The intersection in it's current configuration is both dangerous to drive and difficult to navigate. The Simon Fraser Bridge Project is being done to improve the transportation network for Residents, Workers and Visitors. Including a left-turn into the VLA area at Spruce/Victoria/Ford Streets with the Bridge Project is a public safety benefit that will improve basic access and reduce driver frustrations for over 6000 Residents, Workers and Visitors who need this safe left-turn.

Q. Will a Left-turn make Victoria Street a shortcut to downtown?
A. No. If you look at a large map, you will see that the left turn will primarily benefit motorists coming from the north and west. It would be much faster and shorter for them to stay on the main highway 16 to get downtown than to drive out of their way, turn left and use side streets to get to downtown.

Q. Could the Ministry place a barrier in the middle of the Hwy all the way to the bridge to prevent U-turns and Left-turns?
A. They could, but this will cost thousands of dollars and will do nothing to reduce driver frustration and improve basic access for over 6000 thousand residents, workers and visitors of the VLA who need a safe efficient user-friendly left-turn lane to access the area. A barrier is short sighted and will only shift congestion to Ferry and Upland (by Van Bien School) and at Ferry and the Hwy on/off ramps by the Bridge. On the other hand, the installation of a safe user-friendly Left-turn lane on the Hwy (as is done in many other locations), will alleviate the safety concerns and congestion on Ferry and Upland as well as improving access and safety on HWY 97.

Q. Are U-turns illegal on the Hwy 97 by Ford & Victoria St.?
A. Up until September 2008, Ministry officials confirmed U-turns were permissable in this location as per section 168 of the Motor Vehicle Act. ( see http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/stat/M/96318_05.htm#section168 ). However in mid September 2008 the Ministry extended the barrier and placed a no U-turn sign which now makes it illegal to perform u-turns at this location.

 

Public Safety

Up until the mid 80's left-turns were permitted into Spruce Street from Hwy 97, just as they still are today on the Hart Hwy 97 at the Mohawk Gas station (where hwy traffic counts are much greater), however, in the mid 1980's rather than spending their money wisely to install a safe user-friendly access, the Ministry erected a barrier to deter people from making south bound turns from Spruce onto Hwy 97 S.  This has now resulted in people making risky-uturns in the middle of the highway to access Spruce, Victoria and Ford.

 

Environment and Common Good

DID YOU KNOW?
Because the Ministry has not installed the left-turn:

It is estimated Approx 500 to 1000 vehicles each day have to travel up to an extra 1.7 Km (approx 1 mile or 2-3 minutes) via either Upland St, using the Ferry Ave on/off ramps or other roundabout ways.

If you are one of those drivers and you did this once a day for 300 days out of the year, you’d drive: say 2.5 min/day x 300 days = 750 Minutes = 12.5hrs of extra driving for you each year.

Say on average 725 vehicles drive this each day: 725 x 2.5min/day x 365 days = 11,000 Hrs of wasted driving by the public each year.

How much is your time worth to you and your family?  $10, $20, $30/hr ?  Say the average person’s time is worth $15/hr.  11,000 hrs x $15 = $165,000 of  taxpayers’  time is wasted each year.

725 trips/day x 1.7 Km x 365 days = 449,000 km (279,000 miles) of wasted driving each year.
 
Let’s say the average of all hwy vehicles
 (incld trucks, rigs, etc.) burns 16 Litres/100Km for city driving.  449,000 km/yr ÷ 100km x 16 L = 71,500 Litres (19,000 gal) of gas and diesel wasted each year.

With price of gas & diesel today near $1.50/L, 71,500L x 1.50=  $107,000 of fuel wasted each year!

How is the Ministry helping to cut Green-house gas emissions?   How does this help the air quality in Prince George?   How much extra Carbon Tax are you paying for this?  How user-friendly is the access for cyclists?  How much extra do you have to pay for a taxi ride?  What about all the extra cost for wear and tear on vehicles, tires and city streets? Does someone have to die before they will act (like at Jensen Road)? Etc?

DID YOU KNOW THIS?
This summer, the Ministry is spending $2.7 Million of your tax dollars on a Hwy Improvement Project at McBride Timber, Sweden, and Silver Rds, 25km west of Prince George.  As part of this project, four (4) left-turn lanes will be built on Hwy 16 W.  John Rustad’s May 23, 2008 News Release (at JohnRustadMla.bc.ca) says the project will “reduce driver frustrations and improve basic access for residents, workers and visitors”. This is a great safety improvement for the 80 or so residences, farms and 2-3 small businesses that will benefit from these four (4) left-turns.

Only one (1) user-friendly left-turn will be needed at Spruce, Victoria & Ford Streets to “reduce driver frustrations and improve basic access”  for over 6000 residents, workers and visitors and it will be a minimal cost if included with the Bridge Project!

In 2004 the Ministry of Transportation lost one of their own staff members in a tragic accident at Jensen Rd. on Hwy 16 w. Within the next 12 months, after a loud out-cry from residents, the Ministry quickly found $800,000 to make the left-turn and other safety improvements which 80 or so residents had been petitioning years for.

 

For more information please feel free to contact any of the following directors for our community action group, LeftTurnNow.com.

Should any of the above authorities wish to opt-out and not to receive the complaint e-mails sent from the above form, please feel free to contact Sean or Eldon.

Sean Ollech, Director sean_ollech@hotmail.com Ph: 250-612-2286		Eldon Matte, Director eldon_matte@yahoo.com Ph: 250-565-8503
Molly Kneeland, Director Ph: 250-552-9371

 

Politicians and Government Authorities who have chosen not to receive your complaints.

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