“Enough is enough. When are we going to be heard and taken seriously?”
Shannon Smith is starting a movement and is asking the community to help her in her quest to turn our little squeaky voice about Three Valley Gap (TVG), into a lions roar.
It is time to take action and make our voices heard. It takes a leader and a face to represent that movement and that is exactly what Smith is doing. She did write a letter to our Transportation Minister, Clair Trevena after her accident and it was met with a rather vanilla response. With virtually no promise to address the mountain pass, it is time to step it up.
Smith is spearheading a letter writing campaign and would like those in our community that feel the same way about TVG to write a letter about their fears or concerns. The goal is to have 2000+ letters from this community sharing their daily routines that involve that stretch of highway, whether it is a delivery service vehicle, a singular family unit or a sports team that travels to and from arenas, everyone matters and we need to be the squeaky wheel in order to get the grease.
Smith has been on the highway three times since that boulder tumbled off the mountain at Three Valley Gap and smashed into her vehicle sending her into a tailspin. The fear of that stretch of highway is very real for all of us; for Smith, it is not only an overwhelming flashback of fear, it is hindering her desire to be able to go to and from town as she pleases. While this may pass in time, that does not fix the problem.
The discussion about the dangers of Three Valley Gap are not new and have been going on since the inception of the highway in the mid-sixties. Rocks have fallen ever since, and while this is known, the dangerous issue has not truly been addressed. A colossal chunk of mountain crash landed on the highway back in 2002 and virtually covered the entire two lane highway.
On Wednesday, April 18th a giant boulder cascaded off the mountain again, while there were reports that a vehicle did receive some collateral damage, the operator of the vehicle was unharmed and the worst damage was a shattered window.
The road was closed for a stretch of time on April 25th because of yet another rock slide.
This will happen again.
MLA Doug Clovechok is in agreement with Smith and has been working with her to get those letters from our community so he has a strong leg to stand on when is goes up against Horgan in Legislature.
“People have power; it is time to become vocal to this Government”.
The reality is, if we do not become a thorn in the side, this issue will never be addressed. This will remain a problem for the next generation to deal with but how many people will die between now and then?
“I am going after the Premiere himself; I am putting him on notice. I will be questioning him on TVG. He told me this was going to be his personal goal, but he has done nothing. The thunder is coming Mr. Horgan and hell is coming with it.”
Smith is requesting all Revelstokians to take the time to write a letter from your heart about TVG, why it matters to you, how it has affected you, what fears you have and why it needs to be addressed.
Everyone is busy and has family, work and social responsibilities. Finding time to call a friend can be hard let alone writing a letter about a subject that does not affect us directly. However, this is where we need to change our way of thinking. It does affect us. We all drive that pass, and those we love drive that pass. Every day there is a risk.
Imagine your wife, husband, son, daughter, mother or father driving to see you when a gigantic piece of earth snaps off the mountain bringing down the “safety fence” and smashes the vehicle so hard it sends it into the lake. While this is a harsh thought, it is a true possibility for all of us.
If you want to support but can’t think of the words, here is a template that can be used to help assist in the letter writing process.
Once you have written your letter directly email the Premiere himself.
Premier@gov.bc.ca and cc Doug.Clovechok.MLA@leg.bc.ca
For those that are old school and prefer to write out their letter, drop it off at the MLA office at 107 First Street East (Bright Yellow building between Kawakubo and Telus Mobility)
(There is also a letter in WORD format to fill in- for that please email revcurrent@gmail.com and I will be happy to forward it)
3valley letter Premier
