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Friday, July 26, 2013
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Malahat roadwork extended to August $8-million safety upgrade: summer traffic, technical details blamed for delays Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
S
Jack leaps to the rescue
Linda O’Connor’s life was saved Wednesday by a fellow named Jack when she was choking at the Duncan Garage Cafe.
Ashley Degraaf
News Leader Pictorial
L
inda O’Connor’s ears were ringing and her vision was turning black. That was right before the Shawnigan mother of two was given the Heimlich manoeuvre by a fellow named Jack after she began choking on her salad at the Duncan Garage Cafe this afternoon. “Thanks to him, my kids still have a
mom,” O’Connor said after stopping by the News Leader Pictorial to tell her story. “My main focus is thanking everyone who was there.” O’Connor and her two daughters had gone for a bite at the Garage and were sitting at a corner table when she began choking on her salad. “I had tried to push myself up against a bar there but that didn’t do anything,” she explained. “I couldn’t speak but I finally managed to get out ‘I’m choking.’” “He was really calm and he told me what
Ashley Degraaf
Good Samaritan: saves choking woman at Duncan Garage Cafe he was going to do,” O’Connor explained of her hero, who goes by Jack and is apparently a regular, but disappeared shortly after the incident. “He came and checked on me a couple times, but I didn’t get a chance to speak with him.” She’s also very appreciative of the Garage staff who came to her side afterward even though their cafe was super busy. “They were giving me hugs and kisses and offered me water right away. They were totally great.”
queaky wheels got provincial grease to median more stretches of the Malahat. But ‘Hat pitbulls Chelsey Dollman and Malahat fire chief Rob Patterson understand money to mend the rest of the deadly turnpike will take longer. And delays until August have been announced for some stretches due to heavy summer traffic slowing construction, technical issues, and night work inabilities. “They’ve been good at listening to what first responders, fire chiefs and myself had to say,” Dollman said after she, Patterson, police, paramedics and others met with Highways officials about Malahatupgrade progress in recent months. “They wanted to see where our areas of concern are and if they line up. It comes down to money; we have to take everything one step at a time.” Dollman and Patterson agreed the most accidentprone stretches remain without concrete barriers to stop cross-over crashes.They also realize those spans need costly engineering work. Still, Dollman said she “won’t back down” on potentially deadly spots. “Split-rock to the summit, that’s the real problematic area where you go from two lanes to one to two, then back to one, and it’s not divided,” she said. “The entire Malahat needs to be divided. Highways agree that should happen, in a perfect world. We need to stop head-on collisions. “ Patterson was also satisfied how Victoria’s rehabilitating the hazardous ‘Hat. “I’m as happy as I can be; lots of background work still needs to be done,” he said, citing land acquisitions and more to widen then median sections — including what he calls Nascar Corner, and elsewhere. “Nascar Corner will be part of phase two, whenever that one gets figured out. There are some logistical nightmares (Highways) have to work out concerning road grading, and a steep ravine to fill.” The current $8-million phase of median installation spans four places totalling 2.6 kilometres. That brings the total of new median to 5.4 kms protecting about 40% of the Malahat, ministry staff said. Its contract with Surrey’s Jacob Brothers Construction Ltd. also sees upgrades to three intersections, improved lighting, signage and road markings. Work was expected to be done by late June. more on page 12