Osoyoos barber Sue Gerrard says she and her dog, Sophie Eloise, were nearly run down at a Main Street crosswalk when a driver failed to stop, even though she was more than half way across the street. Her boyfriend, Gary Bloomfield, pulled her back in the nick of time. She says the crosswalk is poorly lit and it occurred at dusk, but she wants to see traffic improvements. They were lit for this photo, but there is very poor street lighting on this crosswalk. (Richard McGuire photo)
A close encounter with a motorist at a crosswalk has left Osoyoos resident and barber Sue Gerrard shaken and calling for traffic safety improvements.
Gerrard was crossing Main Street at 72nd Avenue between Jones Boys Automotive and Repair and AG Foods one evening last week around dusk. Also with her on the crosswalk were her boyfriend Gary Bloomfield and her small dog, Sophie Eloise, a schnauzer.
They crossed the southbound lanes and started to cross the northbound lanes when two cars approached them, driving side-by-side in the single lane. One vehicle slowed, but a woman in the other vehicle kept driving, apparently distracted.
“Gary realized she was not stopping and he pulled me out of the way,” said Gerrard. “I screamed because I realized she was coming and didn’t see me.”
Gerrard says the incident was only one of many she’s had on Main Street crosswalks, but this one was the last straw. She wants crosswalk safety addressed and she’s speaking out.
“It’s a major problem,” said Gerrard, who owns Dirty Hairy’s Barbershop and hears about it regularly from her customers. “It happens at every single intersection in town. Do we have to wait for someone to be run down again at one of our crosswalks before the town does something?”
The problem though is that Main Street is actually Highway 3, a provincial highway like Highway 97. So nothing can be done to improve traffic safety for pedestrians without the co-operation of the provincial government.
Jim Dinwoodie, director of operational services with the Town of Osoyoos, sits on a recently revitalized traffic safety committee that includes the RCMP and sometimes also includes representatives of ICBC and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
And coincidentally, they have a meeting scheduled this Thursday where he expects a provincial representative to be present.
Dinwoodie said the town intends to bring up a number of traffic safety issues affecting the two provincial highways that run through Osoyoos.
“We have quite a list,” he said. “And some of them are the crosswalks. So we’re hoping to discuss this with the province on Sept. 8.”
Gerrard said she’s heard of a number of confrontations this summer between pedestrians and drivers who don’t stop at crosswalks.
“I’ve even heard of a couple people kicking in the car door,” she said. “So this is a major problem. Our town is not set up for 5,000, let alone 20,000 or however many come here. The infrastructure on Main Street might have worked 40 years ago.”
She believes people are getting more and more aggressive.
“I hate to say it, but it’s a lot of tourists and it makes it very bittersweet to welcome these people into town,” she said. “On the other hand, we have locals getting angry and frustrated with each other, thinking that the other is a tourist.”
Although Gerrard said this is the first time she’s raised this issue publicly, she admits, “I’m quite a vocal person,” and said she doesn’t hesitate to express her views on such issues with customers in her barbershop.
Her captive audience has included former Mayor Stu Wells and town Chief Administrative Officer Barry Romanko.
“They still come back for the abuse,” she chuckles. “It’s quite funny.”
She admits though that she hasn’t yet brought her concerns about traffic safety to the present town council.
“I probably, definitely should,” she said.
Gerrard said Main Street needs more crosswalks, more push-button signal lights and curb bump outs like those recently installed on Oliver’s main street that narrow the distance pedestrians must walk through traffic at intersections.
Dinwoodie said the town is also considering seeking bump outs as part of a Main Street revitalization project, which also would include storm sewer upgrades. The project could start in 2017, he said, but it is dependent on provincial support and funding.
He cautions, however, that crosswalks have drawbacks.
“Crosswalks are tricky,” said Dinwoodie. “Because what tends to happen, and the research tends to show, is when you put in a crosswalk, even with lights, it gives the pedestrian a false sense of security.”
People often hit the button and walk out onto the street thinking they’ll be safe, he said.
“But you’re still going to lose the argument with the car because the guy driving is texting,” he said, adding that drivers may also be distracted by their coffee or changing their music.
“So how do you make them better?” asks Dinwoodie. “We can paint them brighter, we can put bigger lights, but even that doesn’t necessarily work.”
Push-button lights are expensive, typically running around $50,000 he said, adding that the province, if it agreed to them, would pay the bulk of the cost because it’s their highway.
But because it’s a highway, the ministry of transportation isn’t anxious to increase the number of stops, he said.
“They don’t really like people stopping,” said Dinwoodie. “The object of the highway is to get you from A to B as quickly as possible.”
The complication in Osoyoos, however, is that the highway is also the Main Street and there are many pedestrians.
Dinwoodie said Main Street will need to be torn up to install bigger storm sewer pipes to handle flooding and a plan to install bump outs and improved street furniture could be done at the same time.
In addition to shortening the distance on the road that pedestrians need to cross, the bump outs also tend to attract drivers’ attention at the intersection, he said.
Gerrard said she would also like to see more enforcement. She’s encouraged that Osoyoos RCMP Detachment has some new officers and that Cst. Sheldon Herman in particular has been proactive on traffic safety.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
Traffic fills Main Street on Friday evening of the Labour Day long weekend. Streaks of car lights photographed with a time exposure show the Main Street traffic at crosswalks, most without signal lights. Over roughly half an hour, the Osoyoos Times observed numerous drivers speeding, doing U-turns and some appearing to be texting. (Richard McGuire photo)
Sue Gerrard returns to the crosswalk where she was nearly struck by a car with Gary Bloomfield and her dog Sophie Eloise. (Richard McGuire photo)
Streaks of car lights after dusk photographed with a time exposure show the Main Street traffic at crosswalks without signals. The Osoyoos Times observed a number of drivers speeding, doing U-turns and appearing to be texting. (Richard McGuire photo)
