The petition to stop construction of a traffic circle on Highway 5 at Clearwater has been sent to the politicians.

Clearwater trucking company owner Ed Crombie said Monday the effort gathered 777 names that were forwarded to Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Terry Lake, Clearwater Mayor John Harwood and highways ministry officials on Friday.

Before that, Crombie met with Lake to map out his concerns about the roundabout, which has the backing of Clearwater’s town council.

“It’s a pretty strong petition when you get 777 signatures against the roundabout. Out of the whole works, only two said it should still go ahead,” he said.

“We’re waiting for a response. They say this is about safety. But there have been two serious accidents at the intersection further south.”

Crombie said he urged Lake to find out the number of accidents at both highway intersections in Chase. He’s asked RCMP and the highways minister but still hasn’t received the statistics.

Not only is the roundabout not wanted, it’s expensive, he said.

“When the province is talking about balancing the budget, how do you justify $3 million for something people don’t want and it’s not even necessary,” said Crombie.

“It should be left alone. . . . The intersection at the lower end of the hill is more dangerous than the one at the higher end. And there have been more serious accidents at that lower intersection. And if necessary, then put lights at both intersections.”

Crombie said he’s offered to take the mayor or a council member in his logging truck into a heavy snowstorm to show them how important it is to keep the road going straight through.

“We definitely want people to deal with this before it gets stale,” he said.

“There’s been no contract awarded yet.”