The multi-billion dollar Highway 1 improvement project is aimed at giving drivers an easier commute, but signs along a revamped stretch of the highway have been leaving some drivers scratching their heads because they use numbers and not route names.
The City of Coquitlam said ever since names of roads and highways were replaced with route numbers on signs between Coquitlam and Burnaby, drivers have had trouble finding their way around.
“At the moment it’s so confusing it’s hard to tell what they could do to alleviate that, the whole thing is one big jumble,” said one driver, who added he accidentally crossed the bridge into Surrey on one occasion.
“I’ve lived in Coquitlam all my life, and we don’t use the numbers,” Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart said. “I don't know anyone in our community that knows the Mary Hill Bypass by the number 7B.”
Government officials won’t budge on adding the names of routes back on the signs because they currently conform to a provincial standard, Stewart said, so he is ready to appeal to B.C.’s Minister of Transportation.
“My argument will be that the purpose of the signs is to inform not to conform,” he said. “Right now we’re conforming to a standard and everybody’s confused.”
Stewart said he would also like to see a sign pointing people to Coquitlam’s city centre, something that is in place for other communities like Surrey.
A spokeswoman for transportation minister Mary Polak said she hadn’t heard from Stewart, and only became aware of the issue from media.
“In response to Mayor Stewart’s concerns, I have asked staff to contact his office and work to resolve his concerns,” she said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Maria Weisgarber
