Councillor Doug Elford says that while a pedestrian crosswalk is probably welcomed near King George Boulevard and 66th Avenue, he’s concerned about the “excessive speeding” over drivers in the area.”
At the April 1 regular meeting, council voted in favour of arterial paving and intersection improvements on King George Boulevard between 64th Avenue and Hall Road. According to the report, work is expected to begin this month and be completed by September.
The work also includes a mid-block overhead flashing crosswalk on King George Boulevard in the 6600-block and two bus queue jumper lanes at 68th and 64th avenues. Similar bus queue jumper lanes already exist along King George at 76th, 88th and 96th avenues.
The mid-block crosswalk was Elford’s cause for concern.
“There’s a lot of jaywalking there frequently and I know we’ve had some fatalities and some serious injuries along that route,” said Elford, noting it’s probably welcomed in the community for that reason.
In February, there was a fatal pedestrian crash on King George at 68th Avenue.
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“My concern is the motorists. They’re unfamiliar with putting a crossing in that area, you see a lot of excessive speeding in that area. I’m hoping the engineering department will be able to provide some advanced warning for the motorists, in a sense, so they will be more aware and accustomed to what’s coming.
Elford asked staff to consider installing some kind of “early warning” for drivers as part of the project, which staff said they would look into.
“I fear that people will just cross without realizing that a lot of motorists are unfamiliar with a crossing in that area.”
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