The infamous stretch of highway along Highway 16 between Prince Rupert and Prince George, known as the Highway of Tears, could see ten billboards placed along it this spring.
The billboards will be put in place to warn women of the dangers of hitchhiking along the stretch of road. The highway has seen a number of mostly First Nations’ women, go missing from and/or end up dead along, the 724 kilometres between Prince George and Prince Rupert.
The billboards will feature a young woman "thumb in the air" surrounded by a fading row of crosses, with the snow, rain or tears falling and the ghosts of those who have gone before, trying to restrain her from getting in the car.
The billboards are the latest of ideas to keep a high profile of the Highway of Tears cases, a website was created to keep information up to date and provide support for the families of those that have gone missing.
The 10 billboards are based on a painting from by artist Tom McHarg and are just one of the recommendations from last years Highway of Tears symposium.
The Canada.com website had a complete look at the planned project.
Highway of Tears billboards may warn women of B.C. road's dangers
Suzanne Fournier
CanWest News Service; Vancouver Province
Thursday, February 22, 2007
VANCOUVER - British Columbia's so-called Highway of Tears may soon have 10 billboards along its stretch warning female hitchhikers not to retrace the steps of the women who've gone missing there.
Prince George Mayor Colin Kinsley said his council approved the billboards Monday night and the regional district will consider the issue Friday night.
"It's a compelling image and if it stops hitchhiking, that's one important goal, although we also need to look at car-pooling and other options," said Kinsley.
Joanne Monaghan, who has championed the project, says the goal of the billboards, slated to go up along the 724-kilometre stretch of highway from Prince Rupert to Prince George is to prevent hitchhiking and provide a stark reminder of what happened to the missing and dead women found there.
The billboard, based on a painting by artist Tom McHarg, is of a young woman "thumb in the air" surrounded by a fading row of crosses, with the snow, rain or tears falling and the ghosts of those who have gone before, trying to restrain her from getting in the car.
Stephanie Radek says she and her cousin Tamara Chipman, who disappeared near Terrace in 2005, might never have hitchhiked on the highway had they seen the billboards.
Tamara, a young aboriginal mother, was 22 when she vanished.
"I hitchhiked along that highway and I had no idea how dangerous it was so those billboards will definitely help. It wasn't until my cousin Tamara went missing that it all hit home," says Radek, who now lives in Vancouver with her two children.
Her mother, human rights activist Gladys Radek, notes "the billboards were ...only one of the recommendations that came out of the (2006) Highway of Tears symposium.
"We also need public transit, highway phones and we need the police to quit saying there's only nine women missing and no serial killer involved and start a real investigation."
Radek said her own research has documented at least 19 women who have gone missing.
Priscilla Naziel, another family member of a vanished woman, is forwarding research to the RCMP that puts the number of missing or murdered women at 28.
Vancouver Province
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