The dangers pedestrians face every day in Burnaby were on view this week after a driver knocked over a post designed to keep vehicles from going onto the sidewalk.
The posts are called “bollards” and they were just installed on Monday at a busy three-way intersection on the Burnaby-New Westminster border. By Wednesday, the bollard had been severely damaged and nearly ripped out of the sidewalk.
“So on Monday @CityofBurnabyinstalled bollards at Cariboo and Tenth to stop people from driving onto the sidewalk,” said Justin Turcotte, who posted photos of the broken bollard. “I figured a couple weeks tops until someone slammed into them. They lasted until Wednesday afternoon.”
Turcotte said the intersection is dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists.
“It's beside a park and between two thoroughfares, so people generally ignore the red light and race through it turning right,” he said. “I cross it by bike dragging the kiddo twice a day and it's a dangerous point on my commute.”
Turcotte posted the photos on Twitter and his feed lit up with reactions.
“If you aren't safe from cars on a sidewalk, how can you expect to be safe in a bike lane or walking on all streets with no sidewalk?” responded Burnaby resident Joel Gibbs, an ardent critic of the city’s cycling and pedestrian infrastructure. “Narrow the street, narrow the lanes, reallocate space to transit, pedestrians and people with wheelchairs, bikes, and scooters.”
