According to Burns Lake council, community members have expressed some concerns over the lack of visibility of some of the crosswalks along Hwy. 16.
One of these crosswalks is located in front of the Burns Lake Eye Care.
“I completely forgot that crosswalk even existed,” said coun. Chris Beach. “A lot of people don’t even know it’s there.”
Councillor Kelly Holliday said that many people drive faster than they should before reaching that crosswalk (driving from east to west), when the maximum speed allowed is 20 km/h.
The other crosswalk councillors were concern about is located near the Royal Bank of Canada.
In early January of 2015, council directed village staff to bring back a report regarding the safety of crosswalks in Burns Lake.
According to the staff report, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) is satisfied with the current design of the crossings in Burns Lake, as they were designed, inspected and signed off by their engineers who specialize in this field.
After the project was complete, representatives from the contractor, MOTI and the Director of Public Works did a walk through to confirm the product was finished to design standards.
“I understand that this project was approved and signed off, but I think it might be worthwhile to have a discussion again,” said coun. Susan Scheinbein.
“I appreciate that the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has approved these projects, but they are not here on a daily basis,” added Beach.
Rick Martin, Director of Public Works, recently contacted MOTI to find out what would be the cost of adding lights to the crossing, as this had been one of the council suggestions to increase safety.
“Installing control lighting at a pedestrian crossing on a major arterial like Hwy. 16 would require advanced flashing lights east and west of the crossing as well as the stop lights controlled by pedestrians,” read the report. “The cost would likely exceed $150,000, and since this would severely impact the yearly maintenance for MOTI, it would not be supported.”
Burns Lake council passed a motion to invite the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to attend a council meeting to discuss the safety of pedestrian crossings in Burns Lake.
