Highway 19 safety review launched after fatal crashes

The British Columbia provincial government has agreed to conduct an Operations and Safety Review of the Highway 19 corridor following a series of serious accidents in late August. The decision follows intense community pressure after four crashes occurred in less than a week, including two fatal incidents that claimed three lives.

One fatal accident occurred on August 26 near the Nanoose Bay rest area when a single-vehicle rollover killed a 20-year-old woman and critically injured a passenger. In a separate head-on collision near Ware Road in Lantzville on August 27, two men were killed. The BC Highway Patrol reported that a 16-year-old driver was arrested for impaired operation causing death and dangerous operation causing death.

Local residents have expressed long-standing concerns regarding speeding, highway access, and the lack of alternative routes. Specifically, the Northwest Bay Road intersection has been identified as a high-risk area, with a previous provincial study recording 121 collisions at that location between 2015 and 2019.