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HomeNewsStreet lights will be installed along the Maple Drive corridor south of...

Street lights will be installed along the Maple Drive corridor south of Quesnel

It became official on Friday afternoon when the Cariboo Regional District Board approved the bylaw to create a new function.

Mary Sjostrom is the CRD Director for Area A…

“It’s a streetlight function for the designated area that has been designated in the catchment area under the Cariboo Regional District, so it will show up on the taxes once a year as a line item as Maple Drive Streetlighting.”

Sjostrom says ICBC is paying to actually install the 23 lights, and taxpayers will pay for the annual maintenance.

That cost will be $7.31 per 100 thousand dollars of assessment.

Sjostrom says there was very little objection during the alternate approval process…

“here was over a 1,000 folks that were included in the catchment area, and of that there was a handful, in fact there were six people that were opposed to it, so that is a pretty small percentage and I totally respect their right because they have that right.   But ultimately it was unanimous with the exception of a few.   I am really, really pleased with the results because we would have then had to go to referendum and that costs a lot more money.”

If 10 percent or more of voters opposed it would have triggered a referendum.

Sjostrom says she is pleased with the outcome…

“The overall safety of the corridor was what was in mind when we started and the 23 additional street lights that, people I think will have forgotten, but they will go from Highway 97, basically the school, right down to Plywood Hill corner so it is going to do the entire corridor, not just the strip.”

Sjostrom says there is a lot of truck traffic in that area where there are two schools and a daycare.

A pedestrian, a 32-year old woman, was struck and killed in a collision on Maple Drive near Kube Road in January of 2019.

As for when the lights will go in, Sjostorm say they’re not exactly sure although she says staff is already reaching out to BC Hydro and she hopes it can be done early in 2021.

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