Last October Shannon Smith was caught in a rockslide at Three Valley Gap, breaking her back.
“I looked like I do today when I came out of the car, the only difference is I had a couple little scratches, but I broke my back in the accident,” she said.
Related: The day the wall fell down
Now she is back at work full-time but limited in how much she can lift.
Since the accident she said it has been difficult regularly driving the highway where everything happened, but she has family and business commitments that make it unavoidable.
But when the boulder came down on April 18, and another rockslide a few days later, Smith knew she had to push harder for change.
“In the last three weeks I bet you there has been 8 or 9 calls easily, just at Three Valley, that I can think of off the top of my head,” she said.
Related: Large boulder closes Trans-Canada Highway at Three Valley Gap
While she was recovering she wrote letters to the premier, the minister in charge of highways as well as the city.
The city also wrote to the province asking for safety improvements as Three Valley Gap.
Related: Council to ask province for safety improvements at Three Valley Gap
Smith said the response from the premier “was pretty much a shrug off, it is just another thing in the interior.”
Related: Government has no solution for dangerous Three Valley Gap stretch
Now Smith is asking that everyone write a letter asking for change to happen.
“Through my recovery I decided that the reason I made it through was to make a change, to be the one to get something fixed at Three Valley,” she said.
In the letter, Smith implores the premier to recognize, acknowledge and act on the dire safety crisis.
“We have no alternative route,” she writes. “We pass through Three Valley Gap to catch flights, go to orthodontists, buy new vehicles and attend work functions. This transportation corridor is vital and we deserve to be safe.”
A general letter can be found with this story on our website, however Smith recommends writing a letter in your own words if you have a story to share.
Letters can be sent via email to premier@gov.bc.ca cc’d to doug.clovechok.mla@leg.bc.ca. Or you can drop off your letter at the MLA’s office at 107 1st St. East.
Do you have a story to share? We at the Revelstoke Review would like to hear it and share it, adding more voices to the fight for change. Send us your photos and stories about incidents you have experienced at Three Valley Gap to jocelyn.doll@revelstokereview.com
Three Valley Gap Letter by Revelstoke Editor on Scribd
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