A letter about people not stopping at railway crossings in Qualicum Beach brought up a discussion of the wider context at Monday's town council meeting. Citing her own experiences with cars not stopping, Coun. Anne Skipsey suggested that the town should remind the public about the requirement to stop through their various communications avenues and ask the RCMP to increase enforcement.
"I'm wondering if it may be more appropriate for the town to remove stops signs at railway crossings, or face them in the other direction so the few service vehicles that actually travel on the track are made to stop," suggested Coun. Bill Luchtmeijer.
"To force the public to stop at an unused crossing is fighting an uphill battle. People realize there's no train running so they're going to go through it. Let's legitimize the non-stopping," he said.
"That's interesting logic," chuckled Mayor Teunis Westbroek, pointing out that it is an ongoing issue and there is still the potential for train service to re-start.
"We've been waiting for a response from the Island Corridor Foundation," he said, pointing out there are a number of vehicle and pedestrian crossings with the potential for dangerous interactions.
He agreed they should look into removing the stop signs, "but in the meantime I think it's our duty to enforce the stop signs until they're removed."
Council unanimously agreed to ask the RCMP to increase enforcement.