A little more than half a century ago, the 102 kilometres along the route of what's now the Sea to Sky Highway was little more than a sheer rock cliff and a logging road. Since then it's often been colloquially referred to as the Highway of Death or Ski to Die because of the frequency and severity of the crashes that occurred along its winding, often-undulating ribbon of asphalt.
But no more. As of this week, British Columbia Highway 99 between Horseshoe Bay and Whistler is all grown up - safer, more reliable and faster, though no one from the Ministry of Transportation (MOT) could say exactly how much time is saved.
After five years and $600 million worth of work by a consortium known as S2S Transportation Group, led by contractor Peter Kiewit Sons Ltd., what used to be 104 kilometres of roadway is now approximately 102, with more and considerably longer stretches of four-lane, more three-lane stretches that include an uphill passing lane, improved two-lane sections and several kilometres more median barriers.
None of that, of course, guarantees that there'll never be another horrific, fatal accident on the road that extends southward from Whistler. Without enforcement, higher speeds might result in a higher incidence of speed-related crashes.
But significantly improved sightlines, fewer "curvilinear" stretches (including two grade-separated rail crossings that used to be at-grade, resulting in frequent rollover crashes) and the aforementioned passing areas are designed to reduce both the number and severity of crashes, said Rob Ahola, the MOT's Sea to Sky Highway Improvement Project's construction director.
"Since construction and since sections have been completed, certainly the severity has been lessened," Ahola said. "I don't know what the projections are and I can't speak for the RCMP, but I'm sure they'll be monitoring hot spots. And a lot of the accidents might occur from people falling asleep or losing concentration and we've included more rumble strips and such to reduce the chances of that sort of accident.
"Because the highway is more consistent, you have less speed advisories and you can travel longer at the posted speed. The consistency of its design is something that should make the trip less stressful and a bit faster."
Ministry officials say an increase in the number of pullouts from which police can conduct enforcement checks should make that enforcement more effective. Whistler Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed, however, said he worries that without an increase in enforcement, more speed-related mishaps will occur.
"For all the improvements that they've have been make on the highway, people are able to go faster," Melamed said. "Stopping that really requires continued enforcement and to date we have not been able to get funding for increased enforcement. That'll be an ongoing lobbying effort for communities up and down the corridor."
Melamed said making driving more "seamless" also gives travellers fewer incentives to get out of their cars and use alternate modes of transportation.
"There are funding challenges and then there's the load shift and the behavioural challenge of making transit accessible, and as with many things you need a critical mass to make it viable," he said.
By and large, though, Melamed said the upgraded highway should be good for corridor communities, and he lauded the work done by both MOT and Kiewit in consulting with communities both on the design of the project and on minimizing the impact of construction-related closures and delays.
"The Province did an incredible job of engaging the community," Melamed said. "The business community here said, 'We can't have it closed during the winter, and we don't want it closed during the day,' and Kiewit showed us how it can be done when a little bit of forethought and planning goes into it."
Said Ahola, "Hats off to the contractor and his traffic control people, because they're the ones who had to orchestrate it, and they did a great job."
Squamish Mayor Greg Gardner said he has been "pleased" with the way Kiewit has managed traffic flow during the construction phase. "They seemed to keep vehicles moving for the most part and that's impressive for such a large project in such a difficult environment," he said.
Gardner and Squamish council recently have engaged MOT officials in a dialogue on a list of 19 deficiencies Squamish officials would like to see addressed before the project is wrapped up. Those include such things as deceleration lane at Clarke Drive, streetlights at the Centennial Way underpass, wheelchair curb cuts at some intersections and a taller pedestrian underpass at the Mamquam Blind Channel.
Gardner said he expects District of Squamish lawmakers to receive a progress report on those outstanding issues from staff in December.
One problem in having those deficiencies addressed, and in dealing with other issues throughout the construction phase, is that District of Squamish officials have no direct contact with Kiewit, Gardner said.
"Although this project is within the District of Squamish, we do not contract directly with Kiewit and we have to rely on the ministry to influence the contractor and the contractor, Kiewit, has not been responsive in all cases to our concerns," he said.
Gardner, though, added that the economic impacts of the project - both from the number of workers who have lived in Squamish during the construction phase and on the amount of goods and services purchased from local businesses - has been "extremely positive" for Squamish.
Working from south to north, Ahola ran down some of the challenges faced by engineers and construction crews and what drivers will experience in those spots now:
"Snake Hill," the winding section north of Horseshoe Bay, has been replaced by the "overland route" along Eagleridge Bluffs;
Doodson's Corner, north of Lions Bay, "was a very tight curve with a speed advisory, and there were accidents there. But that's now four lanes with a much better alignment," he said;
The section from Lions Bay to Porteau Cove used to be "curvilinear," Ahola said, but now it has wider shoulders and more "catchment" - "there's more space so if a rock does fall there, it's more likely to land in the ditch," he said'
The entire highway through Squamish is now four lanes, which means greater traffic capacity. "On a winter weekend coming back from Whistler I'm sure you're saving some time," he said;
Grade separations at the Brandywine and Function Junction rail crossings should virtually eliminate rollover accidents there;
Powerline Hill, just south of Function Junction, "was very curvilinear, and often with poor conditions. That's been widened and straightened out and should be less problematic for drivers," Ahola said.
No scientific surveys have been done to gauge drivers' overall impression of the new road, but anecdotally, the early returns are positive, said Fiona Famulak, president of the Whistler Chamber of Commerce.
"I do chat about the highway quite a bit and the feedback from tourists is very, very positive," Famulak said. "Our businesses also recognize that because the drive is much improved and shorter, that should drive visitations to the resort."
While Melamed said he thinks the overall impact will be positive, he doesn't see a direct, one-to-one correlation between upgraded highway and resort visitations.
"I'm not a big believer in the fact that the road was a barrier to visitation. We had or biggest winter in 2000-'01, 65 per cent occupancy, before the highway upgrade. But our surveys do show that access is a barrier," he said.
While Famulak called the improved highway "one of the main legacies" of the Olympics, Melamed took aim at those who have said since the outset that the cost of the highway upgrade should be considered an Olympic expense.
"This is not an Olympic highway, and it's not a highway to Whistler," Melamed said. "We are huge beneficiaries of it, but this is for the entire corridor. It was going to happen eventually, but the window of the Games ensured that what might have happened over 20 years happened in five because of the timing of the Games."
Gardner said he sees nothing but positive long-term impacts of an upgraded highway. Squamish, for example, has solidified its place as the corridor's commercial hub over the past five years, at least partly because those from elsewhere now find it safer and faster to get to Squamish.
He also suggested that some businesses might not have located in Squamish if not for the upgrade.
"I would suggest - and this is anecdotal, not empirical - that it has had an impact in new businesses deciding to locate in Squamish. It not common for a community with a population of about 16,000 people to have businesses such as London Drugs, WalMart and Home Depot locating in our community," he said.
The improved highway, Gardner said, is "so much more" than just a road to Whistler and the Olympics.
"And first of all, that's not a bad thing," he said of the "road to Whistler" notion. "Whistler is an economic driver for the entire corridor and for the province, and we do want people to get to Whistler on a safe and timely basis. And we're so connected within this corridor and to the Lower Mainland. So it's a multi-faceted asset."
