Proposed changes to a section of the Island Highway through Cassidy are not sitting well with area business owners, even though calls for increased safety measures have been made for years.

The highway south of Nanaimo, between the Nanaimo River bridge and Timberlands Road, has had several fatal vehicle crashes in recent years.

A one-kilometre stretch from Vowels Road to Beck Road is where crashes killed five people since 2005. In each of those cases, vehicles were turning left onto the highway or went out of control and collided with oncoming traffic.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is holding an open house Tuesday (Nov. 10) presenting proposals that include eliminating left-hand turns off of and onto the highway with a solid concrete centre barricade from Timberlands Road to the Nanaimo River bridges, except at the Nanaimo Airport entrance, which has a traffic light.

Plans also call for a traffic turnaround at Timberlands Road.

A left turn could also be left open for southbound highway traffic into Beck Road, which serves the Cassidy Inn, Juniper Cafe, Nanaimo Fish Hatchery, a residential area and a highway rest stop. The left turn onto the highway from Beck Road would be blocked.

“We’ve had meetings with first responders and the fire department – because that’s the only access into the area – had some concerns about losing a left turn,” said Dave Edgar, transportation and planning engineer.

“Over time our strategy is to remove uncontrolled left turn movements as is practical.”

The proposal means Wyn Andrews, owner of the Cassidy General Store at Vowels Road and the highway since 1992, will lose northbound traffic coming into his store and gas bar.