Squamish residents spend a lot of time behind the wheel, whether it’s a quick school run across town or a weekend trip up the Sea to Sky. That everyday reliance on our roads is why safety concerns resonate here. News that a local resident recently experienced a wrong-way driving incident is a reminder that while such events are uncommon, their consequences can be severe. It also raises fair questions about how our community, the District, provincial partners, and police can work together to reduce risk at the places where local streets meet Highway 99.
Details about the incident remain limited and official comment is pending. Without speculating about what led up to it, the takeaway for many readers is straightforward: a single mistake on a busy corridor can put multiple people at risk in seconds. Road safety professionals often describe wrong-way events as low-frequency but high-severity. That framing is useful here because it points us toward practical prevention, not blame.
Highway 99 through Squamish is under the jurisdiction of the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (the Ministry). The District of Squamish manages municipal streets that connect to the highway. In between those responsibilities are private driveways, business access points, and a mix of traffic that includes commuters, heavy trucks, visitors unfamiliar with the area, and local families. That combination makes clear wayfinding and consistent driver behaviour essential.
On the provincial side, the Sea to Sky corridor has seen substantial safety upgrades over the years. Standard features such as centreline and shoulder rumble strips, high-visibility signage, delineators, and pavement markings are designed to help keep drivers oriented, especially in poor weather or low light. At highway off-ramps and one-way access points, provincial guidelines provide for “Do Not Enter” and “Wrong Way” signs and directional arrows on the pavement where warranted. These measures are part of the Ministry’s provincial road standards and are maintained by the highway maintenance contractor for this area on a 24/7 basis. If residents notice missing, damaged, or obscured signs along Highway 99, those issues can be reported to the Ministry’s maintenance contractor so crews can respond.
Closer to home, the District’s work focuses on local roads and the transitions to the highway. Municipal engineering teams regularly review signage, paint, and intersection geometry on District streets, often informed by collision data, resident feedback, and site observations. Where conditions support it, physical designs that guide drivers into the correct lanes—like channelized right-in/right-out movements, better median islands, and refreshed directional arrows—can reduce the chance of a wrong turn becoming something worse. Residents who see a local signage or marking concern can contact Service Squamish so the District can log the location and assess it.
The Squamish RCMP detachment and the RCMP’s Sea to Sky Traffic Services are the enforcement and public safety partners for our corridor. Their day-to-day work targets the behaviours most often linked with serious collisions in BC—impaired driving, excessive speed, distracted driving, and failing to yield. Police across the province also run seasonal CounterAttack campaigns and focused enforcement at high-risk locations. In general, police agencies advise that if you encounter a vehicle travelling the wrong way toward you, the safest option is to reduce speed, pull well to the right if possible, and call 911 as soon as it is safe to do so. Do not attempt to flag down or block the vehicle yourself. If you see a sign, barrier, or lighting issue that could be contributing to confusion, report that concern to the appropriate road authority afterward.
While wrong-way incidents grab attention, the underlying question for Squamish is how to make routine driving more predictable for everyone. Several practical steps are often considered by road authorities when reviewing locations where drivers may misread cues or make the wrong entry.
First, a signage and marking check. Are “Do Not Enter” and “Wrong Way” signs present, properly placed, and visible at night and in rain? Are pavement arrows clear and reflective? Are lines and chevrons fresh enough to stand out under headlights? These routine items help most drivers most of the time, but they require upkeep to stay effective.
Second, visibility and lighting. At complex access points, small improvements—trimming vegetation that hides a sign, adjusting a sign’s angle, upgrading reflectivity, or adding a streetlight where sightlines are limited—can reduce ambiguity. In winter, when dusk comes early, lighting can be the difference between a quick correction and a near miss.
Third, physical and technological cues. Where pattern problems appear, road designers may recommend channelization that physically guides vehicles into the correct lane, additional rumble strips, or enhanced treatment such as oversized or dual “Do Not Enter” signs. These solutions are typical tools in the Ministry’s and municipalities’ safety toolkits and are applied based on site conditions and data.
Education also has a role. Squamish is a destination community, and not every driver here is familiar with local access rules or the feel of a divided highway transitioning to signalized intersections. Working with the Ministry, the District, local tourism partners, and businesses along the highway to share simple reminders—right-in/right-out rules at certain driveways, the importance of following directional arrows, and the need to slow down early for complex intersections—can help visitors and occasional drivers make better choices. For long-time residents, a steady emphasis on sober, attentive driving remains the most effective safeguard against rare but high-risk situations.
The discussion should also acknowledge what we do not know. At the time of publication, the RCMP has not released incident details, and the Ministry has not confirmed whether a location-specific review is underway. Those updates matter because they guide where resources go. If police determine the incident was linked to impaired or distracted driving, enhanced enforcement and public messaging may be the right first step. If it appears that design or signage contributed, a focused engineering review by the responsible road authority would be expected.
For residents who want to take action now, there are a few clear pathways. Immediate hazards or active wrong-way driving should be reported to 911. Concerns about highway signage, markings, or lighting can be sent to the Ministry or its maintenance contractor; the contractor is responsible for fixes like replacing damaged signs, uncovering obscured ones, or refreshing paint. Issues on District streets—including municipal signs that might be confusing near highway approaches—can be submitted to Service Squamish for review by the engineering team. When reporting, providing the exact location, time of day, and a brief description of what you observed helps crews prioritize.
Finally, accountability and transparency are important to local readers. Squamish Blog has asked the Squamish RCMP and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure if any enforcement, engineering, or signage changes are planned in response to this incident. We will share their responses as soon as they are available. In the meantime, if you have first-hand information that you have already provided to police, or if you want to flag a specific location where you believe a “do not enter” or “wrong way” warning could be strengthened, please contact the appropriate agency directly and consider copying Service Squamish so the District is aware of resident input at highway interfaces.
No single measure eliminates risk, but steady, coordinated improvements can prevent rare events from becoming tragedies. Squamish drivers are already accustomed to variable conditions, from heavy rain to weekend visitor traffic. With consistent maintenance of signs and markings, targeted engineering where data supports it, ongoing enforcement against high-risk driving, and a community that reports concerns promptly, the road network can continue to move people safely. We’ll update readers as RCMP and the Ministry provide more information. For official updates or to report a concern, visit the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure website, contact the local highway maintenance contractor for urgent highway issues, or reach Service Squamish for municipal road questions.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has been asked to review the relevant area for safety improvements; updates will be shared when confirmed.
