The provincial government’s insurance corporation spent close to $2.5 million in three years on claims for accidents at the Cleveland Avenue and Highway 99 intersection, a Freedom of Information request by The Chief shows.
ICBC paid out $860,000 on 55 crashes in 2015; $860,000 on 56 incidents at the intersection in 2014 and $700,000 on 41 claims in 2013, according to the freedom of information release.
These figures are the most recent available and do not include incidents involving parked vehicles.
The highway sees 19,000 vehicle trips each day, according to the provincial government.
Mayor Patricia Heintzman has long called for the province to fix the intersection, the most dangerous in the Sea to Sky Corridor, according to ICBC.
Heintzman said considering the numbers released only cover three years, the total cost of the intersection, just for claim payouts is likely significantly more.
“That is a lot of money,” she said. “It is a really good investment on the ministry’s part as well as ICBC’s part to improve this intersection.”
Heintzman added that the $2.5 million does not include RCMP, highway crew cleanup and the cost in health care accidents may create.
“That is an expensive intersection. It needs fixing,” she said.
In August of 2016, a joint study by the District and ICBC – the Sea to Sky Highway at Cleveland Avenue Traffic Operational and Safety Review – was released. It revealed that 83 per cent of the crashes at the intersection involved rear-enders.
The report found that to undertake short term fixes would cost up to $200,000, with ICBC picking up $147,000 of that.
A longer term plan to install an eastbound-southbound right turn acceleration lane would cost an estimated $498,000, with ICBC likely to contribute $107,000.
Since the report, the District has focused on keeping pedestrians diverted away from the accident-prone location, Heintzman said. The Rose Park Corridor Trail was upgraded to help divert pedestrians and cyclists via the highway underpass at a cost of $446,000. Countdown counters were installed on the traffic lights to improve safety for pedestrians. ICBC and the Ministry of Transportation funded the $50,000 counters that were installed in several locations, not just the highway intersection. The Pemberton underpass underwent $25,000 in upgrades.
The intersection’s sight lines and vegetation issues were addressed in the southbound right turn lane, at a cost of $1,000 and a missing section of the sidewalk was remediated in front of McDonald’s for $20,000.
The mayor stressed that ICBC does continue to be a strong supporter and comes to the table to find improvements of about $50,000 a year.
The province has invested more than $1.1 million in overall improvements to the Sea to Sky Highway this year, according to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
For its part, the ministry told The Chief it is looking at further “opportunities to address congestion and improvements” for the intersection.
The provincial government is finalizing the scope and design of these improvements, a ministry representative said in an email.
“There are potential property impacts that also need to be explored and require further discussions,” the statement read.
The ministry anticipates the design of future improvements to the intersection to be complete within the next few months.
“Further discussions will be needed with the District of Squamish, ICBC, and any affected properties before the ministry can move forward.”
