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The Ironworkers Memorial Bridge sees three to four collisions per week, causing traffic to stop or crawl on the highway and clogging feeder routes.

Walton stressed that the aim of the resolution is not to compromise safety — if there is any chance someone might be injured, the incident would be dealt with in the usual way.

“We’re really focusing on the minor accidents — the fender benders, the stalls,” said District of North Vancouver project manager Erin Moxon. “Let’s get those cleared up more quickly.”

The resolution states that the Motor Vehicle Act should be changed to allow maintenance contractors, such as Mainroad Contracting, to authorize the removal of stalled or damaged vehicles from the roads. Currently only police have this power.

Police who attend collisions in which damages are estimated to be more than $1,000 are also required to conduct an investigation that involves completing a collision reporting form that only they can fill out.

Photo by Ric Ernst / PNG Files

The municipalities would like to see the act changed so police don’t have to fill out the form unless damage is more than $10,000, and so that the form can be filled out by fire rescue services for minor accidents. It’s expected these changes would also allow vehicles with minor damage to be removed from the roadway faster.

“I know this would have a huge influence here,” said Walton. “The level of frustration in this community is extremely high.”

He said the changes could benefit people across the province, but acknowledged they would have the most impact in the Lower Mainland.