Wanting to provide a crossing for citizens accessing Larry Gouthro Park on Manson Avenue, City of Powell River Mayor Dave Formosa was exasperated when told the solutions.
“I’ve given up. I quit asking for crosswalks,” Formosa said after hearing the expensive recommended solution.
At council’s committee of the whole meeting, Thursday, November 6, Tor Birtig, director of infrastructure, provided a report. He said at a September 4 council meeting, staff was directed to prepare a report regarding installation of a crosswalk at Larry Gouthro Park. City staff reviewed the possibility of installing a crosswalk near the Bruce Denniston Playground at the north end of the park.
Birtig said as per the Pedestrian Crossing Control Manual for British Columbia, because of the 30-kilometre-per-hour zone adjacent to the park, plus the amount of traffic and the amount of crossing opportunities on Manson Avenue, a crosswalk is not a necessity in the area. He said the manual states that if a mid-block crosswalk is to be installed nonetheless, it must be illuminated, similar to the crosswalk recently installed at Joyce Avenue and Nootka Street, near Westview Elementary School. An alternative to an overhead lit crosswalk is a side-mounted dual head 12-inch solar flasher. The estimated cost of the overhead illuminated crosswalk is $100,000 and the solar flasher is estimated to cost $40,000.
Formosa said when the issue was last discussed, Birtig had stated the city could probably get away with regular, everyday paint.
“I want to understand why we don’t want to put a crosswalk there,” Formosa said. “I know for a fact that moms with babies playing there want a crosswalk. I’m almost certain if you want, 10 of them will show up here with their screaming little babies and ask council for it.
“When I brought this up six years ago, I was told there was a crosswalk they could use at Barnet Street. I went and looked and it wasn’t there. I was told there was one at Hilltop Store at the other end. I went and it wasn’t there.”
Formosa said he gets staff’s point but if that’s the case, the city should get rid of every unlit crosswalk.
“Now we can’t even build crosswalks anymore,” he said. “We want $40,000 from the taxpayers. The comment I got from a mom yesterday is: ‘I’ll go get a can of spray paint and I’ll paint it on there.’”
Councillor Jim Palm, chairing the committee meeting, asked about the rationale for not installing a painted crosswalk at Larry Gouthro Park.
Birtig said mid-block, drivers are typically looking at the road ahead. What is frequently witnessed is people stepping into an unlit crosswalk into what they think is a safe zone.
“What we want to do is make sure the traffic actually stops prior to someone going across,” Birtig said. “We are trying to safeguard all aspects of traffic.”
Birtig said observations show that there are ample opportunities to cross at Larry Gouthro Park because there is not a steady stream of traffic.
Formosa said there is something inherently wrong. He said when he was first elected to city council, he had spoken with a resident to lived across from the park. She called him and said he needed to seriously consider installing a crosswalk at that location. Now, moms are telling him the same thing, he said.
“Without a crosswalk at that location, people who are crossing Manson Avenue are jaywalking, and that’s wrong,” Formosa said.
Mac Fraser, city chief administrative officer, said Birtig was reporting that by analysis, there is not a need for a crosswalk at that location.
“He’s respectfully saying, if you want it, fine, but by the safety standards which the municipal insurance association validates, if you want a crosswalk, the safe way to do it is either a $40,000- or a $100,000-option,” Fraser said. “Our insurance will not adequately indemnify the city if it’s just a painted crosswalk.”
Formosa said there are other crosswalks in the city similar to the one he was proposing so he wondered if they were grandfathered.
“I want a report on the insurance,” he said.
Formosa made a motion to direct staff to report on the insurance and liability issues regarding installation of mid-block crosswalks. The motion carried.
