From Mile Zero to Target Zero – the Dawson Creek Case Study Raheem Dilgir, President, TranSafe Consulting Ltd. and Kevin Henderson, Manager

Dawson Creek is a city in northeastern British Columbia with a population of 11,583 in 2011. It is centrally located in the Peace Region and is served by several highways. The city maintains 88 km (55 mi) of paved and 11 km (7 mi) of unpaved roads. The City is famous for its “Mile Zero” Marker (beginning of the Alaska Highway) and its industrial and heavy truck traffic. It is located in Northern BC with a cold climate and ice and snow covering the road for several months of the year.

The City of Dawson Creek Council has placed road safety as a high priority. However, like other municipalities, there are challenges where the main arterial road through the City also provides frontage to major trip origins and destinations, and requires pedestrians to cross the high-speed roadway at various points. A severe collision and several close calls were reported involving pedestrians crossing the highways. In 2015, the Council obtained funding to identify and address pedestrian crossing issues and other safety issues, in two projects:

• Project 1: Highway 97 and Highway 2 within the City limits
• Project 2: Other City locations identified by citizens

This paper focuses on Project 1: the review of the two major highways through the City. Rather than focusing on one or two locations, the corridors were reviewed as a system, so that a more holistic and consistent approach could be taken. In Project 1, the City partnered with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) and with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC). The three agencies contributed equal funding to the consultant study and formed the steering committee. Highway 97 and Highway 2 are the two highest volume roads throughout the City, and are owned by MoTI. ICBC provides funding for select road safety improvements identified in conjunction with the City.

The paper presents the results of the safety review conducted for the two highways, and explores issues the City has had in managing large trucks through the City, pedestrian safety, accessibility, which are characteristic of highways through northern towns. Mitigation measures to improve the infrastructure as well as to educate the public and manage road safety activities are discussed.