Slow down. Be careful. Care. Wherever you are going will be there when you get there. If you see something on the road, Slow Down and Take Care. Or just kill it. Up to you, really.

Very sad news. I feel very badly for his family and friends.

It’s tough for everyone involved. i don’t know the particular circumstances but it’s a busy intersection, often with vehicles turning from both directions. You could easily be driving carefully and not see someone unexpectedly cutting across the highway until it was too late. There isn’t a crosswalk at that intersection. A scooter would be too light to trigger the lights to change. There is a pedestrian walkway underneath the highway by the corner store but I’m not sure if you can get through with a scooter.

So this is our next intersection improvement project. Wonder how quickly the City and ICBC can get it done.

I am looking at imagery date June 2012. Unless it has changed since I am looking at an intersection configuration which is common in this community on intersecting roads with at least one being 4 lanes.

There are 4 triangular islands, each with a post supporting traffic lights.

I do not know in which direction the motorized tricycle was moving.
Coming from the south east side of the highway (the Bunce Rd. side) there is a sign on the post saying “no pedestrian crossing”. The same is true in the opposite direction. There is another sign which points in the direction of the tunnel located at the small shopping mall and states “pedestrians”. While the entrance to the tunnel is very clear to those going shopping on the shopping side, it is not so clear on the other side which has no paved pathway leading to it ending up in a grassed are next to residential houses.

My observations are these:
1. A person on a motorized tricycle is not a pedestrian. When it comes to the MVA a bicyclist has the right to be on a highway following the same rules as a car or truck.

2. A person on a bicycle has the option of getting off the bicycle and walking alongside it as a pedestrian. That is difficult to do with a tricycle and more so if the rider has a physical condition which would prevent him/her from doing so.

3. The system in place works for people who are familiar with the area such as school children going to Vanway as well as those who might actually walk to the stores. Someone from out of town would not have the faintest clue that there is an underpass nearby.

4. The signage for pedestrians is minimal. There are two signs adjacent to each other. The signs need to be combined into a larger more prominent sign which will indicate that pedestrian cannot cross at the intersection and that there is a highway underpass a certain distance away from the intersection.

So let me go to the next intersections heading into town to see what the standard is in other locations

Kimball Rd. at Art Knapps
1. No traffic signal at all.
2. The south side of the highway has the standard two triangular islands with pedestrian crosswalk markings for those walking along the highway. No markings for pedestrians who might wish to walk across the road. Cars travelling at 80+kph coming out of a curve from the west. A dangerous place to cross for pedestrians. It is even a dangerous place for vehicles to cross or enter the traffic lane on the opposite side.

Westgate Ave crossing to Konrath Rd on the north side of the highway
1. This is a signalized intersection which includes walk signals in all directions.

Marleau Rd.
1. No traffic signals.
2. Pedestrian crosswalk markings leading to two triangular islands on the Marleau Rd side.
3. No development on the other side of the highway, so presumably not pedestrian traffic.

Domano
1. This is a signalized intersection which includes walk signals in all directions.

Vance Rd
1. This is a signalized intersection which includes walk signals in all directions.

Range Rd
1. No signalized intersection
2. Two triangular islands on the west side
3. No crosswalks

Entrance to Wood Wheaton
1. One triangular island
2. Crosswalk paint on road
3. No signals
4. No walkways along the highway.

Ferry Avenue
1. This is a signalized intersection which includes walk signals in all directions.

Recplace Dr. at the Sandman
4. No signalized intersection
5. Two triangular islands on the west side with crosswalk paint on the road despite the fact that there are no pedestrian walkways along highway.

It is time that the City and ICBC take a look at the intersections in the region of HWY 16 west and make sure that a best practices standard is applied to all those intersections which do not provide for a safe pedestrian crossing as well as a safe crossing for vehicles such as at Gauthier, Kimball and Marleau.

I suspect once they finish that, they need to take a look at the Hart Highway as well.

“A 64-year-old man who was riding a tricycle with an electric-assist motor was trying to cross the highway, against a red light, when he was struck by the pick-up”.

The same people defending the guy who crossed a red light on his bike, are the ones who lambasted an innocent girl who made a legal left turn, and died, last month.

Makes you shake your head.

The person or persons that designed the intersection by Cowart rd should be ashamed of themselves. The left turn lane and the oncoming left turn are offset and do not line up creating a very poor sight line for the driver when you are trying to make a left turn after coming down the hill. Needs to be fixed now not later.

I don’t really care about the curb or what ever. The point is the left turn lane that your vehicle is sitting in does not line up with the vehicle facing you so both vehicles are offset when they should facing each other in a straight line. This offset makes it very hard to see the traffic beside the person sitting left turn lane when you are coming from a downhill position.