KELOWNA (NEWS 1130) – Following a really intense winter, that isn’t quite over for many of the out of town highways, BC’s transportation ministry says it’s taking steps to make the major roadways safer when it’s snowing.

The government is announcing several changes including: stricter chain-up requirements, higher fines for commercial vehicles that are not carrying chains or chained up when they’re supposed to.

“I have heard from people and communities throughout the province that we need to take action to improve safety on our highways,” said Claire Trevena, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. “With that in mind, our government is moving quickly to implement changes that will ensure people are able to get where they need to go more safely through the winter months.”

A pilot project is also being introduced to restrict big trucks from using the far left lane when there are three lanes available on a highway, which is often the case on the Coquihalla Highway.

The province is also investing $1.8 million over the next three years for more weather stations and overhead signs to warn drivers about weather and road conditions in real-time.

Winter tire restrictions will also be extended again. They had previously been shortened to be in effect from October through to the end of March, but going forward you will be required to have them on through the end of April.

Enhanced road-maintenance contractor monitoring and auditing, leveraging new tools and technology, like road weather stations, variable speed limit systems, and GPS tracking of snow plows

Extending winter tire and chain regulations on select highways, including mountain passes and rural routes in high snowfall areas, from Oct. 1 to Apr. 30 (instead of March 31), to account for early-spring snowfall

More support for the Winter Driving Safety Alliance through a specific winter driving campaign, to promote safe winter driving behaviour and awareness for all drivers

The ministry says it will be speaking with the commercial trucking industry in the coming months to discuss the incoming changes which will be in effect for the upcoming winter season.