VANCOUVER — British Columbia's government is looking to improve transportation safety along a 750-kilometre stretch of highway renowned for the number of women who have been murdered or gone missing along or near the route.
A long-awaited announcement for the so-called Highway of Tears will see $3 million go towards enhancing existing transit services, expanding driver-training programs and helping local communities buy and operate transit vehicles.
The province has earmarked $500,000 to install webcams and transit shelters along Highway 16, a remote, northern route between Prince George and Prince Rupert.
The announcement builds off a symposium held last month in Smithers, B.C., which was attended by many who have been calling for a better transportation system between communities along the highway.
Overseeing the program's implementation is a nine-person advisory panel, made up of representatives from the province, local government, health authorities and First Nations groups.
Eighteen women, many of them aboriginal, have been murdered or disappeared along Highway 16 or adjacent routes since the 1970s.
