Road safety is top of mind again in Squamish after a local resident recently experienced a wrong-way driving incident. While events like this are uncommon, they highlight how quickly routine trips on Highway 99 and our local streets can turn risky. For a growing community that relies on safe, predictable travel for school, work, and recreation, the priority now is prevention, clear information, and steady follow‑through from the agencies that manage our roads.
Highway 99 through Squamish is a provincial corridor overseen by the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, with day‑to‑day maintenance delivered by the ministry’s highway maintenance contractor for the Sea to Sky. Policing on the highway and municipal streets is provided by the Squamish RCMP. Within town boundaries, the District of Squamish manages local roads, traffic calming, and neighbourhood safety programs. Each of these partners has a role to play when questions about signage, enforcement, or driver education arise.
RCMP across BC advise that if you suspect a wrong‑way driver or encounter dangerous driving, the safest response is to increase your distance from the hazard, pull over when it’s safe to do so, and call 911. Dispatchers will ask for your location, direction of travel, and a brief description of the vehicle so officers can respond. Police also caution drivers not to stop on live lanes to intervene or to attempt to alert the other motorist; well‑meaning actions in traffic can introduce new risks. We have requested local guidance from Squamish RCMP specific to Highway 99 and will share those details once confirmed.
Physical design and upkeep are the first line of defence. Along the Sea to Sky, the ministry uses a mix of measures intended to reduce serious collisions: reflective “Do Not Enter,” “Wrong Way,” and “One Way” signs; pavement arrows and lane lines designed to guide drivers into the correct lanes; shoulder and centreline rumble strips to help prevent drift; delineators and guardrails to make alignments easier to read at night and in poor weather; and median barriers in select locations to reduce the chance of head‑on crashes. The corridor has seen multiple safety upgrades over the past 15 years, and the ministry conducts ongoing reviews as traffic patterns and land use change.
Visibility and wayfinding matter, particularly in shoulder seasons when darkness, rain, or snow reduce sightlines. When signs are damaged, obscured by vegetation, or missing, the risk of confusion rises. Residents can help by reporting specific maintenance issues—such as faded pavement arrows or knocked‑down “Do Not Enter” signs—through the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure’s 24/7 reporting channels for highway problems. DriveBC remains the official source for real‑time incident reports, closures, and weather advisories along Highway 99.
In conversations around town this week, many people have asked whether certain highway access points or complex intersections could benefit from clearer visual cues. Road‑safety advocates often point to proven, low‑cost upgrades that can reduce wrong‑way entries: supplementary “Wrong Way” plaques mounted closer to driver eye level; larger or additional advance “One Way” and “Do Not Enter” signs; high‑visibility directional arrows and edge lines refreshed on a tighter schedule; trimming vegetation near decision points; and improved lighting where night‑time contrast is poor. In some jurisdictions, agencies also test enhanced measures such as red retroreflective markers on the back of signs (so a driver entering the wrong way sees red), or LED‑enhanced warning signs at known trouble spots. We have asked the ministry whether any of these tools are being considered locally; a response is pending.
Education and driver habits are just as important. Police and road‑safety agencies in BC consistently emphasize a few basics that help prevent severe collisions: never drive impaired; slow down and leave room in wet or icy conditions; avoid distractions; and take a moment at on‑ramps or complex intersections to confirm you are following the directional arrows and posted signs. If a driver realizes they have entered a roadway in the wrong direction, the general safety guidance is to pull over to a safe shoulder or off the roadway as soon as possible, activate hazard lights, and call 911 for instructions. We will update this article with any additional local advice from Squamish RCMP.
Enforcement and community awareness also make a difference. Squamish RCMP conducts targeted enforcement on Highway 99 and municipal roads, including impaired driving checks supported by province‑wide campaigns. The detachment encourages residents to report dangerous driving when it is safe to do so, and to share dashcam footage with investigators in support of active files. Those efforts, combined with routine visibility at known collision locations, help reinforce safe speeds and attentive driving.
As Squamish grows, traffic volumes on Highway 99 and feeder routes continue to rise, particularly during weekends and holiday periods. More visitors and new residents can mean more drivers who are unfamiliar with local access points. That’s where consistent sign placement, legible road markings, and routine maintenance are critical. On municipal streets, the District’s ongoing work on crosswalk visibility, traffic calming, and neighbourhood speed management supports the same outcome: fewer serious incidents and safer daily travel for everyone.
While wrong‑way driving events are rare compared with other types of collisions, their potential consequences are severe. That is why many communities approach them with a combination of design, maintenance, enforcement, and driver education. For Squamish, the practical next steps are straightforward. Residents can continue to report specific highway concerns through the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure’s “report a highway problem” process, and municipal concerns through the District of Squamish service channels. The RCMP remains the first call for active dangerous driving. Locally, there is an opportunity for the District and RCMP to share data on near‑misses and collision locations with the ministry to help prioritize signage or marking reviews at busy access points.
We have asked the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure whether a signage and pavement‑marking review is planned for key Highway 99 entrances around Squamish, and whether any enhanced wrong‑way countermeasures are under consideration. We have also requested comment from Squamish RCMP on recent enforcement and reporting guidance. We will update readers as soon as those responses are received.
For real‑time travel information, including incidents and weather on Highway 99, visit DriveBC. To report a concern on the provincial highway, use the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure’s online reporting form or call the 24/7 number listed for the Sea to Sky maintenance area on the ministry’s website. For municipal road issues, contact the District of Squamish through its service request channels. In an emergency or to report a suspected wrong‑way or impaired driver, call 911.
Squamish Blog will continue to follow this story and share confirmed updates from the RCMP and the Ministry as they become available. Community input is welcome: if you’ve noticed a location where signage feels unclear or pavement markings are faded, consider filing a location‑specific report and letting us know you’ve done so. Small, targeted fixes can add up to safer daily travel for everyone.
