By Sebastian Kanally, Times Chronicle
How many raised crosswalks is overkill?
This is the question at least some Oliver councillors were asking when debating a grant application for the town to install raised crosswalks in an effort to combat high speeds on the town’s roads.
The town passed the motion to apply for up to $100,000 through the province’s Active Transportation Infrastructure grant to install two raised crosswalks at a price tag of $50,000 each.
Despite council’s agreement on the resource allocation of bringing two raised crosswalks into the town, there was no consensus on where exactly the two should go.
The recommendation brought by town staff to the meeting was to install both raised crosswalks on McKinney Rd., at the intersections of Badger St. and WolfCub Pl.
If installed at each of these locations, the raised crosswalks would be installed on either side of the crosswalk at Coyote St., which already has a flashing crosswalk.
The second suggested location for a raised crosswalk to limit speeding on McKinney Rd. at Badger St. Google image.
Adam Goodwin, Oliver’s project coordinator, explained that the town conducted speed monitoring on McKinney Rd. from Dec. 18, 2023 to Jan. 30, 2024.
The posted speed limit is 30 km/hr on the road. During the traffic monitoring of at least 10,000 readings, the average speed was 51 km/hr, and the maximum speed in the area was 104 km/hr, Goodwin explained.
He noted that they have no ability to contextualize the speeds that were recorded, so it may have been an ambulance and not a member of the public that was going 104 km/hr.
With the results of this monitoring, and the fact that this corridor has already been identified as a hotspot in Oliver’s Active Transportation Plan, the town recommended the grant be applied for to address this area.
“I support the concept, but I think it’s overkill”, Councillor David Mattes commented on the proposed project.
He explained that since they already have power, and flashing lights at the Coyote St. crosswalk, “that’s where it should be, right in the middle of the street rather than one at each end.”
If they are going to apply for two, then Mattes said he would rather see the second one put to work on another street like Fairview Road.
Councillor Petra Veintimilla expressed some concern with slowing down traffic too much in the area, particularly considering that ambulances have to go down that way.
Mayor Martin Johansen explained in response to this that he discussed the raised crosswalks with a local ambulance operator, who did not see an issue with the raised crosswalks.
There was a brief discussion about other locations where a raised crosswalk could be useful in making the community safer.
Mattes explained that a raised crosswalk further up Fairview Rd. near the edge of town would be useful.
Councillor Terry Schafer noted that he has received complaints about Tuc-el-Nuit Drive and putting something there to slow people down is an option as well.
The town will begin the grant application process for the two crosswalks and at a later date council can discuss more in depth the locations.
This Active Transportation Infrastructure Grant is the same grant that funded the Ditch Trail Project, which was recently completed. Now that the Ditch Trail is completed the town can submit another application.
