The two municipalities and ICBC have teamed up to make roads safer in 2012 by helping with nine road-improvement projects, to make life easier for motorists, even pedestrians.
Last year, Abernethy Way at 227th, 228th and 230th streets had traffic lights and left-turning lanes installed, with a contribution of $98,000 from the public insurance corporation.
Another corner that was made safer with a $54,400 chip-in from ICBC was the intersection at Lougheed Highway and 272nd Street, while vehicles turning left on 280th also got their own signal thanks to a $5,900 contribution.
Pedestrians also got some help.
ICBC contributed $10,000 for a pedestrian-crossing light that the District of Maple Ridge installed on 224th Street and 121st Avenue.
Pitt Meadows received $10,000 to help build curb extensions at Davison Road at 192 A Street and at Park Road and Somerset Drive.
“Public safety is our top priority,” Mary Polak, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, said in a release.
“ICBC’s safer roads program works in partnership with our ministry and with communities to ensure safety is a priority in transportation infrastructure in communities across the province. This valuable program demonstrates our continued commitment to help keep everyone safe on our roads.”
All told, ICBC spent $201,000 on the latest round of road improvement projects in Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge last year.
According to ICBC, the safer roads program was launched in 1989, and since then, has spent more than $110 million in road improvement projects and safety studies across B.C. In 2012, it spent about $4 million in the Lower Mainland and $8 million across the province.
The most recent evaluation of the program concluded that overall, for every dollar invested, ICBC and its customers see a return of five times. The evaluation found that two years following a project’s implementation, there is on average, a 20-per-cent reduction in severe crashes and a 12-per-cent reduction in property damage crashes.