Four out of 14 slippery, high-collision intersections throughout B.C. that will receive the latest in stickier road surfaces are located in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, along with ICBC, crunched the accident and collision claim numbers and identified the intersections at 203rd Street, 207th Street, Laity Street and Kennedy Road, all on Lougheed Highway, as deserving of the new high-friction road surface treatment.
The new road surface will only be installed on the eastbound lanes at 203rd, 207th and Laity street intersections, but will be in both directions at the Kennedy Road intersection in Pitt Meadows, just east of the Pitt River Bridge.
The high-friction surface treatment will be applied to the roadway by an automated truck-mounted machine, using a specialized aggregate and resin to help vehicles come to a full stop more quickly, said a release Wednesday from the ministry.
This $3.9-million project is part of a suite of changes underway to address rising ICBC insurance claim costs. High-friction surface treatments may be applied to other locations throughout B.C, after evaluating the success of this project, the ministry said.
Work will start the first week of September and is expected to be completed by the end of the month.
The locations were selected based on a review of collision and claims data. Two other intersections are in Surrey, while another four are in Saanich.
The intersections of 203rd and 207th streets are also among five intersections in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows that, in August, had their red light cameras activated 24 hours a day in order to photograph drivers running red lights at any time.
Sometime this fall, some of those cameras will also be ticketing drivers who are speeding through intersections.
According to Public Safety and Solicitor General, the provincial annual average for each red-light camera intersection is 84 crashes.
The average number for crashes at 203rd Street and Lougheed is 69, while there’s an average of 46 crashes per year at 207th Street and Lougheed Highway.