The opening of South Fraser Perimeter Road last month doesn't just offer a new route for truckers and other drivers, it also gives emergency officials a little more flexibility when rerouting traffic around a collision.
At around 3 p.m. last Friday, a truck traveling south on Highway 17 bound for the Deltaport container terminal rolled over, losing its load of flax seeds.
There were no injuries and no other vehicles involved, said Delta police A/Sgt. Sarah Swallow, but the highway had to be closed for several hours as crews cleaned up the mess, righted the truck and had it towed away.
Usually such a closure would create traffic chaos with commuters left stranded or stuck in gridlock on any alternate routes, however in this case police were able to simply divert traffic onto Highway 17A.
"It does take a lot of the pressure off that area," Swallow said of essentially having parallel highways in South Delta.
Traffic congestion following collisions has been a bone of contention in these parts for several years.
In 2010, the Delta Chamber of Commerce forward a resolution to the B.C. Chamber of Commerce asking for a better plan to deal with traffic congestion caused by collisions. Its resolution called for "an incident management system under the co-ordinated direction of a single agency."
The chamber maintains delays caused by collisions contribute to significant losses to trade and commerce in the Lower Mainland.
Delta police Chief Jim Cessford has responded to this concern on more than one occasion, outlining the reasons why police close a road following a serious collision. He said the department already has a protocol that is used by emergency responders throughout the province.
Swallow said the department is working to streamline the investigation process where it can, including the recent introduction of a mobile traffic command trailer that carries a lot of the tools needed to investigate a collision.
She said while that should help speed things up, officers are still required to investigate each incident fully, and in the case of a serious or fatal collision that may end up in court, that can take time.
