These intersections are the most dangerous in the city

Five of the 140 most high-risk intersections in B.C. are in Kelowna, with the most dangerous being Harvey Avenue at Spall Road.

Reports said there was an average of 110 crashes a year between 2014 and 2018, with 47 typically resulting in injuries.

Other high-risk locations in the city include Harvey Avenue at Gordon Drive, Cooper Road, and Banks Road, as well as Dilworth/Benvoulin at Springfield Road. These intersections are responsible for between 70 and 90 collisions each a year, and upwards of 34 injuries annually.

To combat these and other dangerous crossings in the province, RoadSafetyBC will be getting $9.5 million from the 2022 budget to create safer roads.

“Ensuring this funding for road safety measures is available makes our roads safer and provides people with streamlined and more efficient digital services,” Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, said.

“Strategic automated enforcement through intersection safety cameras at locations linked to crashes and dangerous speeds has widespread support because it is changing driver behaviours and cutting down on potentially tragic outcomes.”

Funding will be used for a variety of RoadSafetyBC initiatives such as speed and red-light cameras.

The money will also go towards developing an electronic traffic ticketing and online fine payment system. The government said in 2021, 46,700 speed tickets were issued across B.C., which is down from 72,546 the previous year.

The Driver Medical Fitness Transformation project will be bolstered to modernize the driver fitness process through automation, electronic medical forms for drivers, and a better case management. Key changes to the program include simplified processes for documentation, shorter processing times, and more access to information.

The government said these tactics will help reduce backlogs and enable faster removal of unsafe drivers from roads throughout the province.