In December 2019, people were spitting mad after a 13-year-old boy was seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver on Humphries Street at 17th Avenue in Burnaby.
What incensed some people was the lack of infrastructure to support pedestrians in this South Burnaby neighbourhood. They say it is partially to blame for this teen being hit by a driver.
“The problem is that Humphries for four blocks, from Edmonds to 16th Avenue, has only two street lamps,” said area resident Werner Meile in a letter to the NOW. “One at 17th and one at 18th. There are no sidewalks. The edges of the road are a patchwork of asphalt and puddles which causes pedestrians to walk on the road where cars drive. There are no painted lines.”
That’s just one South Burnaby neighbourhood that is in dire need of upgrades.
Another is a short street called Vista Crescent, according to Mike Anderson, a self-described “plangineer working to make Metro Vancouver more walkable and bikeable.”
Anderson said he raised the issue of poor infrastructure on Humphries a year before the teen was struck, and now he’s raising awareness about issues on Vista, which is located in the Edmonds area. That leaves pedestrians, including seniors, to walk a scary gauntlet.
“Here’s another street connecting to the same major comm centre (Edmonds, behind me),” Anderson tweeted earlier this week. “At the other end? High-density housing for mostly seniors who very frequently use the comm centre (with more coming). Forced to walk/wheel in street.”
You can tell by the photo above the lack of sidewalks on this streets, a scary thought for any pedestrians, let alone seniors trying to make their way to the Edmonds centre or to nearby shops and services.
Pedestrians deserve better than to have to literally walk in the roadway to get where they want to go.
The good news is that council voted last summer to increase its spending on sidewalks by $10 million per year to cover the 40% of local roads – 275 kilometres – without a sidewalk on one or both sides.
The bad news is it will take a long time to address these issues.
Staff will add the new spending to next year’s capital budget. Specific sidewalk projects will then be planned and presented to council for future approvals.
In all, the city estimates it’s missing 438 km of sidewalks. Burnaby currently builds an average of 7 km of sidewalk every year – putting it on pace to cover only half the city’s needs over the next 30 years, according to a staff report. Staff estimate “completion of the sidewalk network would take over 60 years through current policies, practices and funding levels.”
The big issue will be what areas get prioritized for sidewalks. Hopefully some money will also be spent to add better lighting in these areas.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox.
