To the editor,
I was astonished to learn recently that in the course of providing information on an accident near the Hwy16/37 roundabout in Thornhill, that the RCMP identify the road leading to the roundabout after crossing the old Skeena Bridge as Lakelse Ave.
This is incorrect. The City of Terrace and the Kitimat-Stikine regional district should not be changing the names of Thornhill streets and historic sites without consultation.
Lakelse Ave. ends at the Terrace boundary just above the railroad tracks before crossing the old Skeena Bridge and then heading toward the roundabout. This has always been called Queensway. It’s a historic site where the Queen travelled from the airport through Thornhill into downtown Terrace on Lakelse Ave. It should be called Queensway as well for historic reasons. It’s only a short street.
During the construction of the roundabout, several signs were removed by the highways ministry and never returned. The large blue Queensway sign attached to the rock face was taken down and never reattached. It was the same for a Queensway sign entering Thornhill from another direction.
Signs haven’t been placed back, even though this is the most significant historical site on the Skeena River. Thornhill Landing is significant because of the marriage of two cultures, which was a rare thing at this time and place in history.
Bob Erb,
Thornhill, B.C.
