The Ministry of Transportation doesn’t see what Delta is seeing.
That’s more bad news for the municipality which has been lobbying for a pedestrian overpass at Highway 17 and 52nd Street to address safety concerns.
A recent letter from Transportation Minister Todd Stone noted since Tsawwassen Mills opened, ministry staff conducted additional engineering evaluations at the intersection and no safety issues were observed, contrary to what Delta has been raising.
“These assessments found that pedestrian volumes were lower than the forecasted volumes which were considered when the business case was undertaken to address the merits of a pedestrian overpass. In addition, staff did not observe pedestrian overcrowding on the traffic islands or any other pedestrian related safety concerns,” Stone wrote.
The earlier business case commissioned by the ministry, looking into whether an overpass was needed, found such a structure, estimated at roughly $5 million, offered no significant benefit and is not justified.
“The current intersection improvements, like similar intersections within the Lower Mainland, provide adequate accommodation for pedestrians and cyclists,” the report concluded.
According to Delta’s engineering department, that conclusion is incorrect, considering how pedestrians trying to access two large shopping malls at the Tsawwassen First Nation have to cross an increasingly busy Highway 17.
Pedestrians have to traverse a 40-metre crosswalk across seven lanes of traffic and two additional turning lanes beyond the pedestrian refuge islands. Pedestrians trying to cross at night are placed at even further risk, while ferry traffic exacerbates the situation.
The engineering department also used drone footage of pedestrians trying to get by the vehicular traffic, including shocking footage of one person deciding to take a risky run across the highway.
Delta police Chief Neil Dubord also supports an overpass, having already told council the length of the intersection combined with the speed of traffic, in addition to the timing of the signal lights, makes it difficult for people to cross in a timely fashion.
As far as Stone’s letter, Coun. Heather King said it’s a big disappointment no problems were seen despite having been shown video footage of the pedestrian situation.
“I was actually stopped going southbound on 52nd (Street) a while back and I saw a fellow off to the right dash in front of us as we got the green, bang on the hood of the car in front of me and dash diagonally across the intersection to catch a bus. So, we’re seeing apparently what the ministry is not seeing and I have concerns about that and I have questions as to why is that their staff are not seeing the overcrowding and pedestrian issues that we’re seeing,” King said.
Saying he’s seen unsafe occurrences in what’s become a highly active pedestrian corridor, engineering director Steven Lan noted the ministry says it’s committed to ongoing monitoring. Stone assured that would be done in his letter.
