Collisions on a notorious stretch of Fraser Valley highway are up nearly 50 per cent, renewing calls from commuters to widen the congested Trans-Canada Highway.
Recent data from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia shows the number of crashes on Highway 1 have increased between 232 Street in Langley and Annis Road in Chilliwack.
There were 308 crashes on the stretch in 2011, ICBC numbers show, but there were nearly 450 crashes on the same stretch last year. The number of total crashes has increased in the five-year time period by 45.7 per cent.
The data also breaks down the number of crashes into those with casualties and those with damage only to property, revealing the number of crashes causing injury or death has increased by 40.3 per cent. The number of property-damage-only crashes is up 49.7 per cent from 2011.
Commuters say Highway 1 can be a nightmare to drive, with too many cars packed into too few lanes. A tow truck driver said he often sees accidents on both directions of the highway through Langley.
The Partel Towing driver, Greg McEwen, said impatient drivers are making his job dangerous. In one instance, which was captured by a dashboard-mounted camera in September, he was nearly struck by a white van driving on the side of the highway.
"It was mind-blowing," he said of the incident.
"It's not even a lane. They're driving down the shoulder when there's an accident."
And Frank Van Huet, also with Partel Towing, said the congestion is only going to get worse with the soaring costs of Vancouver real estate pushing residents to the suburbs.
"More people are moving out in the Valley and they all have to commute to get back and forth to work," Van Heur said.
Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said he supports an expansion, but worries it could be years before the lanes are added.
Last year, the ministry released a 10-year transportation plan calling for the portion of highway between Langley and Abbotsford to be widened to six lanes, but Braun said the timeline is too long.
"Accidents happen once, twice, sometimes three times a day," Braun said.
"People have told me they can't wait 10 years for the widening of this freeway. It's horrendous now… I don't know what it would be like five years from now."
And Braun doesn't think three lanes in each direction is enough.
"At the rate we're doing we should really be doing four, because by the time the third lane is added, I think the freeway's going to be full."
With a report from CTV Vancouver's Michele Brunoro
