RCMP say no fines were issued during six weeks of road checks on provincial highways, where police were preventing non-essential travel.

Staff Sgt. Janelle Shoihet says police were set up for 18 total days, between May 6 and June 12.

She says 14,193 vehicles were checked. She says 236 drivers voluntarily turned around, and 26 vehicles were told to turn around by police.

The road checks were only done on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, ensuring that only essential travellers were going between the Lower Mainland and Southern Interior.

The B.C. government had listed almost two dozen reasons for essential travel, and police gave a warning in advance before each road check was set up.

Those checks were at the old toll booth on the Coquihalla, at Manning Park on the Crowsnest Highway, near Boston Bar on the Trans-Canada Highway and near Joffre Lakes on Highway 99.

And with travel restrictions being lifted tomorrow, the BC Highway Patrol has now restarted normal operations, according to Superintendent Holly Turton.

“Our officers work hard to keep our highways safe. But we need people to drive with care so that we can make our highways safer together,” Turton says.