With an absence of active trains travelling on the railway north of Nanaimo, the Town of Qualicum Beach wants stop signs for vehicular traffic at railway crossings located in the community removed.
Mayor Teunis Westbroek indicated there have been some enterprising residents who have turned stop signs around where vehicles are required to stop.
"There's so little traffic and people, I believe, inherently don't like breaking the law," said. Westbroek. "When they see a stop sign at the railway crossing when they know there's not going to be a train, it's really hard to stop so they go through it. And when they see the next stop sign by First Avenue, they'd go, 'we didn't stop for that one so we'll just go through that one.' It makes people uncomfortable. It does me. I know I should stop and I do because people know my car."
The Federal Canada Transportation Act, the Railway Safety Act and the Grade Crossings Regulation require vehicular traffic to stop at railway crossings, except in limited circumstances, even when the railway is inactive.
Coun. Scott Harrison said the railway line is already inactive as it has been severed by the Snaw-Naw-As First Nation in Nanoose Bay, when they successfully got their land back.
"There's no traffic other than once a year, someone drives by to clean up the brush and check to see the state of things," said Harrison.
The Island Corridor Foundation owns 220 kilometres of railway line, from Victoria to Courtenay. In 2011, passenger service was halted due to safety concerns although freight service continues sparingly on Vancouver Island.
Qualicum Beach council, at its regular meeting on Jan. 22, voted to submit a resolution urging the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities and Union of BC Municipalities. The want the groups to lobby Transport Canada for the amendment of the legislation to permit the reconfiguration of railway crossing traffic controls at roadway intersections of inactive crossings and to remove stop signs for vehicular traffic at these locations.
