It’s been more than two months since the 152 Street overpass in South Surrey was damaged by an overheight vehicle travelling north on Highway 99, and while repair work continues, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether the fix will be an improvement, or just new.
We know the basics – girders were damaged, repair work began this month and is expected to be finished by April. But other questions, such as the overall cost of the work – and most importantly, whether serious consideration has been given to expanding the overpass to four lanes – remain unanswered because we have not been given the opportunity to ask.
Numerous times since the Dec. 4 incident, Peace Arch News has asked to speak directly with transportation and infrastructure minister Claire Trevena, but to no avail.
Instead, the media – and by extension, local taxpaying residents – are left with PR people speaking of “extensive repairs,” or social-media updates, and even those have been few and far between in the weeks since the incident.
We’re left, instead, to assume that work has started – judging by lane closures, traffic cones and noise coming from the overpass daily, it’s a fairly well-educated guess.
Repairs, when completed, may solve the problem at-hand, but longer-term issues remain.
The span in question is used by thousands of South Surrey drivers daily. The repair work – and subsequent lane closures – also negatively impacted nearby businesses during the holidays. Are solutions coming? Commuters and business-owners alike deserve more information than they’ve received from provincial officials.
This is not the first time PAN has had difficulties in attempting to speak with an NDP minister.
In January, PAN made repeated requests to speak with housing minister Selina Robinson about rental housing, and specifically, about a conversation she once had with a Peninsula Homeless to Housing chairperson.
PAN was told then, by the ministry’s communications director, that there was “no way” the minister could recall specifics of that conversation. Robertson only broke her silence on the matter when asked about it specifically during an unrelated housing announcement.
While the NDP’s current reign as ruling party in B.C. is still in its infancy – perhaps it’s taken some a little extra time to find the phones in their new offices – it is nonetheless a disheartening trend.
Semiahmoo Peninsula taxpayers deserve better.