A traffic count ordered by city council reveals Springbok Road does not meet the criteria for a crosswalk.
The study was conducted following Coun. Larry Samson’s call for a marked crosswalk in the 1050 block of Springbok to connect the sidewalk with the connector path to the Beaver Lodge Lands.
Over the course of one week, traffic counts revealed an average of 1,416 vehicles each day with an average of 59 vehicles each hour.
At the morning peak, an average of 67 vehicles went by while during the peak evening hour 105 vehicles were recorded.
Pedestrian counts showed people have a period of 45 minutes where they can cross Springbok during the peak morning hour (8 a.m.-9 a.m.) and there are more than 250 crossing opportunities. Four people crossed during that period. During the peak evening hour (4 p.m.-5 p.m.) pedestrians have 46 minutes clear of traffic in the hour and more than 250 crossing opportunities. Zero people crossed the street during the peak evening hour.
According to the B.C. crossing control manual for communities with populations between 10,000 and 250,000 a marked crosswalk would be justified if there were a minimum of 15 pedestrian crossings each hour with a minimum of 120 crossing opportunities per hour.
“Based on the field observations, the proposed location falls well below the warrants for a marked pedestrian crossing,” said Drew Hadfield, the city’s transportation manager. “Further...ICBC data show no record of accidents at this location or in proximity to this location.”
Hadfield also said the horizontal curve of the roadway at the site poses safety issues because of a reduced line of sight. Council chose to consider Hadfield’s report at the Nov. 6 council meeting as Samson said he had not had sufficient time to look at the report which was delivered to council one day prior to the Oct. 2 meeting.