Recently I was asked to answer a survey about the Sea to Sky Highway. I am generally extremely impressed but one item did not sit well: The “No U-turn” sign at Shannon Falls. Yesterday, I was nearly involved in an accident with the new setup, and so I wrote to Miller Capilano.
Having a “No U-turn” sign at the Shannon Falls light is a stupid idea. How else are people coming from the north to get to the Sea to Sky Gondola? This needs to be properly thought through. It is much more dangerous for people to pull off onto the Darrel Bay Road, or worse, turn into the Shannon Falls parking entry road and then do a U-turn. A simple U-turn is safe and simple. It just needs to be made to work properly.
Yesterday was the second time since the “No U-turn” sign was put in that I needed to turn around at these lights. I turned right off the highway and turned around in the Darrel Bay area. As I expected, it is far more dangerous than doing a U-turn on the highway. There was nearly a three-car collision with people honking. Some people swing in then go further right, turning round to the left, some turn around almost straight away, others go further in and turn around to the right. Utter confusion.
Before the sign was put in, I did between 70 and 100 U-turns on the highway at the lights. Not once, ever, was there anything close to an accident, or even a honk. My personal stats: U-turn 0 issues in 70 times; No-U-turn 1 out of 2 near-misses.
The traffic flow is now more dangerous, not safer. Please remove the “No U-Turn” sign, and add a “U-Turn” sign to make this safer and more logical.
Richard MacKellar
Garibaldi Highlands
