Province investing 100-million into rest stop upgrades

The province has announced it will be investing 100 million dollars over the next nine years into upgrading highway rest stops.

Improvements for eight stops are planned this summer – new lighting, signage, playground equipment, and more are planned for:

•  Highway 97 Mile 80 rest area north of Fort St John;
• Highway 1 Arbutus rest area on the Malahat Highway north of Victoria;
• Highway 1 Kamloops Lake rest area west of Kamloops;
• Highway 1 Skuppa rest area south of Lytton;
• Highway 16 Cluculz Lake rest area east of Vanderhoof.

Longer-term improvements are underway at:

• Highway 1 Kamloops brake check west of Kamloops;
• Highway 1 Columbia rest area west of Revelstoke; and
• Highway 5 Clapperton brake check north of Merritt

The province has also hired 30 summer students to provide landscaping and maintenance to rest areas across the province.

“This funding is especially important for commercial drivers who work long hours and require safe and accessible stopping places, so they can be focused and well-rested while they are on the road,” said Dave Earle, president, of BC Trucking Association. “The more facilities that are accessible to large commercial trucks, the more drivers will stop and recharge when they need to.”

In the coming years, the province is looking into upgrading electric vehicle charging support along highways.

The provincial government is responsible for looking after over 200 rest areas.

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