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SNAKEHEAD HUNTERS RAISING CONCERNS
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WEDNESDAY
JUNE 6 2012
www.burnabynewsleader.com
Hats Off Day was a vibrant display of Burnaby’s diverse culture and community on Saturday. See Page A22
Police had seized gun Mitchell’s riÁe same one used in double murder: IHIT Wanda Chow burnabynewsleader.com
MARIO BARTEL/NEWSLEADER
Barriers are erected on the new Willingdon overpass in advance of its opening on the weekend. The old bridge will be closed and then rebuilt to become the southbound half of the new bridge.
Willingdon’s phase 1 complete New overpass opened to trafÀc Sunday; completion of interchange by late 2013 Wanda Chow wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
Motorists on Willingdon Avenue will notice a smoother ride starting this week after the ¿rst major phase of the new Highway 1 interchange was completed on the weekend. The ¿rst ¿ve lanes of a new eight-lane Willingdon overpass were completed and opened to traf¿c on
Sunday, as part of the province’s Port Mann-Highway 1 improvement (PMH1) project. It’s all part of a transformation of the interchange that will improve safety on what has been perennially one of the worst crash locations in the Lower Mainland. The old ¿ve-lane overpass has been closed and will be demolished to make way for the remaining three lanes of overpass to be built. The new overpass is much higher than its predecessor, thanks to modern highway standards, said Max Logan,
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director of communications for the PMH1 project, during a tour of the new structure with the NewsLeader. The older, shorter structure was built in 1962 for conditions at the time, Logan said. Since then, there’s been an increase in traf¿c and trucks have become much larger, with those too large having to avoid that section of the highway due to height restrictions. When the overpass is complete, it will include two lanes and one high-occupancy vehicle lane in each direction, and dual left-turn lanes
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at both the north and south ends for access to the on and off ramps. The Highway 1 westbound on and off ramps have been temporarily relocated to the east side of Willingdon to allow for demolition of the old overpass. A new signalized intersection where the off-ramp meets Willingdon will help motorists access and exit the highway, with southbound traf¿c now being required to make a left turn to get onto the westbound highway on-ramp.
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The Victoria Police Department seized a ¿rearm from Angus David Mitchell in February, then gave it back when Mitchell applied to have it returned to him. “In February of this year, Victoria Police dealt with Mr. Mitchell in relation to a Mental Health Act incident which resulted in the seizure of a ¿rearm. Mr. Mitchell later made an application to have the ¿rearm returned to him,” Victoria police said in a press release June 1. It is not yet known whether the ¿rearm seized in February is the same one used in the Burnaby shootings, it said. “The history of any ¿rearms associated to Angus Mitchell will be examined as part of the ongoing investigations currently being conducted by the Vancouver Police Department and the RCMP.” Please see FAMILY, A3