Dozens of people wandered through a BC Highways open house yesterday, to give their thoughts on Cathedral Grove.
The old growth trees attract more than a half million visitors a year and create a traffic bottleneck in the summertime that is frustrating to drivers and dangerous for pedestrians.
The issue was last discussed 17 years ago, when protesters camped in trees to prevent construction of a second parking lot for the park, and has been a hot-button topic ever since.
Jenelle States, Deputy Regional Director for South Coast Region highways said they understand the serious safety concerns but have no particular plan about how to deal with it.
She said while they didn’t come to Port Alberni yesterday with an actual plan, the popular idea of a second highway out of town is not something the department is looking at again.
The Ministry hopes to have a plan produced by the Spring.
They’re holding an open house in Parksville tonight at Oceanside Place.