VANCOUVER -- Police have announced they're ramping up enforcement of B.C.'s COVID-19 travel restrictions heading into the May long weekend.
Authorities are "increasing the number and duration" of road checks through Victoria Day, Supt. Holly Turton of the B.C. Highway Patrol said in a news release Wednesday.
The government temporarily banned non-essential travel between three designated regions of the province last month, and the RCMP has been setting up rotating road checks at four locations for the past two weeks to intercept drivers.
Last weekend saw a significant spike in traffic, with officers stopping 2,069 vehicles from May 14 to 16. Some 30 drivers agreed to turn around voluntarily, authorities said.
By comparison, officers stopped 1,412 vehicles from May 6 to 8, and only one driver was turned around.
Despite the recent increase, Turton said the overall volume of traffic remains lower than usual.
The upcoming road checks will be at the same four designated locations as previous weekends: Highway 1 in the Boston Bar area, Highway 3 in the Manning Park area, Highway 5 in the Old Toll Booth area, and Highway 99 in the Lillooet area.
The first ticket issued under B.C.'s travel restrictions took place outside of a road check, according to the RCMP. Police said they pulled a vehicle over for speeding on Vancouver Island on May 1, and determined the driver was travelling for non-essential reasons.
