Work was finished last week erecting a traffic light at an infamous Burnaby crosswalk.
It’s located on Cariboo Road just south of an overpass that crosses Highway 1. It was where a pedestrian named Fernanda Girotto – a 15-year-old Brazilian exchange student – was killed after being hit by not one, but two vehicles, according to police.
Seeing a traffic light being installed at this crosswalk should be considered good news.
It sure was to nearby residents who had lobbied for years to get a light approved by the City of Burnaby. For them, the crosswalk was dangerous, partly because the angle of the overpass created sight issues while travelling south, but also because drivers come whizzing down Cariboo, heading north at high speeds.
A day after Girotto’s death, a cyclist was hit near the crossing, and another pedestrian was seriously injured there in a hit-and-run two days after that.
With residents furious, the city took action. First, a pedestrian-activated flashing light was installed. And now, a full traffic light (at a cost of $450,00).
Like I said, this is good news. The city deserves credit for acting.
But when the NOW contacted Coun. Pietro Calendino, chair of the city’s public safety committee, to discuss the light being installed, he couldn’t resist sounding defensive about the whole thing.
He told the NOW that he hopes the light will prevent more accidents and make the crossing safer "for the few pedestrians that do use that crosswalk."
If you’re wondering why Calendino would mention that, it’s because a few months before Girotto’s death, city staff examined the crosswalk but determined it didn’t get enough foot traffic to justify a light.
Instead of simply saying it’s good the light was installed, Calendino just couldn’t hold back with a dig about how - according to him - not a lot of people use the crosswalk.
It's just so petty.
I don’t know if it's actually true that there isn't alot of foot traffic, but even if he’s correct, the amount of people who use a crosswalk shouldn’t be the only determining factor.
What should be paramount is if the crosswalk is particularly dangerous for those who do use it. Area residents sure thought it was because they’d been lobbying long enough for it. According to them, the speeds that people travel in that stretch, plus the angle of the overpass, made it dangerous. They’d seen what happens there.
Calendino continued on the defensive, saying that two motorists had been charged with negligent driving in Girotto’s death.
“Those are things that no council, no committee can prevent when you have drivers that do not observe the laws of the road. It doesn’t matter how many laws we put in and how many regulations and how many lights, if you have drivers that don’t observe those regulations and laws, what’s any person going to do?”
It’s true that a traffic light doesn’t guarantee people’s safety. Drivers run lights all the time when they aren’t paying attention.
But that seems really obvious. I mean, what’s the point of saying that? According to that logic, what’s the point of any traffic laws because some people will still break them?
At least now there is another level of safety added to a crossing that clearly needed it – or weren’t Girotto’s death and years of warning from locals enough clues to figure this out?
I think Calendino is bitter about having to admit that maybe, just maybe, the city was wrong about this one.
He did tell the NOW it was the “right thing to do” but he didn’t sound very convincing about it.
