Leq’á:mel First Nation built a pathway and staircase to permit people to walk between two neighbourhoods in the community without having to travel along the narrow shoulder of Highway 7. The BC Vision Zero grant provides funding for improvements to pathway signage and lighting to increase the utilization and safety of this new path.
The Leq’á:mel First Nation recently built a walking path including a staircase that connects two sides of the Holachten neighbourhood and allows members easier and safer walking access to the health centre and band office. Not only does the pathway provide a much shorter direct link with less elevation gain than the longer road-based route, but people using it don’t have to walk along the busy Highway 7 which has high-speed traffic and no protective infrastructure for pedestrians.
Currently, the pathway and staircase are unlit, and at night and during the winter months with longer periods of darkness, community members (and in particular parents and students) have expressed discomfort taking the staircase due to the poor lighting. People would like to use the path to get home from the bus stop or after benefiting from after school and evening programs such as homework club, drum nights and community events at the health centre and band office. Walking in the dark is felt to be safety hazard, which discourages the path’s use to attend community activities such as these for much of the year.
This project would like to encourage the people to use the path to divert pedestrian traffic from the Highway 7 route to reduce exposure to traffic-related injury risks presented by walking on the highway, especially at night. To address the safety issue, the project will take the following actions:
This signage and lighting will help improve safety for pedestrians in the community by providing a safer alternative to walking along Highway 7. The overall design will be overseen by the Administration Leq’á:mel staff in consultation with partners.
