Delta councillor suggests solutions to overpass strikes

Another overpass was allegedly struck in the Lower Mainland Monday evening, this time on Highway 1 in Burnaby.

The Leader Spirit has been told the BC Highway Patrol and the Burnaby RCMP are investigating the incident, however, neither unit has released any details about what may have happened.

The latest collision comes after one civic politician in the region suggested a possible solution to prevent this kind of thing from happening again.

A City of Delta Coun. Dylan Kruger says the majority of overpasses in the Lower Mainland are old and weren’t built to handle the size of today’s big trucks trying to move goods around a dense region.

“We have trucks that are bigger and faster than they were when this infrastructure was built. There’s no question that we need to look at upgrades,” he said.

He believes the upgrades should include making overpasses taller so trucks can pass easily.

“A lot of these overpasses are also over capacity already,” he explained. “It is timely to look at, do we need to be upgrading these overpasses anyway, and while we’re doing it… raising the heights.”

Kruger acknowledges it would likely cost quite a bit of money but points out the provincial government is already spending a lot, in some cases millions of dollars, on repairs.

Recently, Kruger put forth a motion to Delta council to send a resolution to the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM), calling on the province to amend its rules around fines and penalties for companies involved in overpass strikes.

“…be it resolved that UBCM ask the province to introduce legislative amendments to allow for stricter penalties to trucking companies that are deemed responsible for damage critical provincial infrastructure,” part of the motion read.

Kruger thinks there should be improved and mandatory education for truck drivers but feels the province and a team of experts and engineers should consider upgrading the overpasses.

“That’s one aspect. We can do better signage. I have many constituents who come and say, ‘Why can’t we have warning barriers in place, similar to when you’re going into a parkade, so a truck hits the big yellow barrier before it hits a multi-million-dollar piece of infrastructure, combined with legislative amendments,” he said.

“There needs to be a multi-pronged approach and at the end of the day, the province needs to re-establish confidence among the public that these transportation corridors are safe for commuters and for the passage of goods.”

In a statement, the Ministry of Transportation tells The Leader Spirit new overpasses are being built higher.

“The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has a minimum height standard that it uses in building all new infrastructure, which is 5 metres. This will accommodate the vast majority of commercial vehicles operating within the Lower Mainland.”

It goes on to say, “While this is the new minimum standard, new structures being built may be higher. For example, the new Glover Road crossing and other new structures constructed as part of the Fraser Valley Highway 1 Corridor Improvement Program will have a height clearance of 5.2 metres.”

There have been more than 30 overpass strikes across the Lower Mainland since late 2021.