Residents lobbying for Blueberry signal light A signal light is needed at Blueberry Drive and Highway 99. Residents of Blueberry Hill, Alta Vista and Beaver Lane who attended an information meeting Saturday unanimously support a signal light at the intersection. The next step is to try and get the Ministry of Transportation and Highways to approve the signal. A show of hands Saturday indicated everyone was in favour of a signal light at Highway 99 and Blueberry Drive, but less than 10 per cent of the approximately 70 people who attended the meeting were in favour of opening the gate that separates Beaver Lane from Blueberry Drive. Most of those in favour of opening the gate were parents living in Alta Vista or on Falcon Crescent. The parents are seeking an alternate route to Myrtle Philip School, where many weekend and after-school programs are offered, in addition to regular school classes. Their frustrations were summed up by Chris Leighton. "If we don’t have the signal light we have to open the gate," she said. "Someone is going to get killed (at the Highway 99/Blueberry Drive intersection)." The Ministry of Transportation and Highways has refused to allow another signal light on Highway 99 so close to the Village Gate Boulevard signal. The ministry believes the highway is a thoroughfare and traffic should flow unimpeded. The municipality, however, is at the point where it is considering installing the light on its own. Mayor Ted Nebbeling urged people at Saturday’s meeting to write to the ministry in support of a traffic signal. The ministry has always urged the municipality to develop secondary routes linking subdivisions, to take some of the traffic off of Highway 99. The municipality has always rejected that idea, feeling it would ruin neighbourhoods. "We (present and previous councils) have always stood up for quality of life (in neighbourhoods)," Nebbeling said. He used the Meadow Park Arena access as an example. "We didn’t want to go through Alpine, and eventually the ministry agreed." However, to finally win approval for access to the arena from Highway 99 the municipality had to agree to provide a right-of-way for a future Whistler bypass road. The right of way runs along the flanks of Sproat, Rainbow and Cougar Mountains, from Function Junction to north of Emerald Estates. Many people who spoke Saturday suggested the solution to the present problem at Blueberry Drive should be part of an overall transportation plan for the valley. Satellite parking lots, enhanced bus services and the Whistler bypass were all mentioned as elements in a long-term transportation plan.
