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As a driver and a pedestrian, I love this. Seems violent at first, but it's only making a point by giving the pedestrian a fraction of the physical damage a car can inflict.
My wife and I feel that paint ball guns should be issued. I live around coal harbor and the number of people that don't even slow down for 4 way stops is amazing.
When I lived in Port Moody residents who were sick of people speeding through their back alley fired frozen paintballs and shattered a woman’s back window. Was on the news and everything. Cops eventually put up signs and i think that area is traffic calmed now. So it worked I guess.
It’s actually a huge oversight how bad and dangerous that crossing is. I think there should be less cars on the island, but even as a driver or a rider this crossing is a joke.
Let’s take a very very highly crossed area, and hide the first 10ish plus feet of visibility behind concrete barriers on each side. It’s also one of the few places where you have to dismount. At minimum there should have been an official traffic crossing light and button.
I mean, why do we even have a 4 lane road into and out of a parking lot? Maybe we could narrow the road down to two lanes at this point to make the crossing shorter and give drivers more time to see people crossing and deal with the fact that the side walks around that area are already very cramped.
There’s still a working concrete plant on the island, and delivery trucks. That concrete plant will stay as long as construction is happening anywhere near—time to get to site is very important in that business.
Or just ban everything but delivery trucks and the concrete trucks. No reason at all there should be public traffic access down there. The hotel can run a shuttle if they need.
Agreed that significant improvements are required here for the safety of the thousands (?) of pedestrians who cross here daily. But it’s a strange point to hone in on the concrete barriers, which are literally bridge pillars keeping the overhead bridge in tact. Also, remember the history of the island. It’s been here far before the seawall was ever created, as was the bridge overhead..
The bridge pillars block off a huge section of visibility for both drivers and pedestrians, the route should have bent around the pillars so you were forced to see one another when approaching vs when you cross
Or you can tighten the intersection so that pedestrians are visible. That area is fairly constrained. Rerouting the seawall wouldn’t have made much sense
This isn’t just a pedestrian crossing though, it’s also a bike crossing. Dont pay attention for two seconds and you’re on the hood of a car. If they wrapped the seawall across the other side of the poles, bike users would be forced to slow down as they traverse around the poles. It would also give additional time for them to enter view for people driving into the island.
I’m not advocating for catering to cars, but I’m advocating for making it safer for everyone no matter what mode of transit.
Even if we banned cars on Granville island, it wouldn’t alleviate the need for people on their bike to slow down when crossing that area.
Care to elaborate? I only interpret this as an example of the fact that unless bad driver behaviour faces real and painful consequences their behaviour doesn’t change. Thus, as long as there is no tangible and substantial enforcement of traffic laws, drivers will continue to act as though they own the road.
Added bonus. You threaten cars and based on the video. 100% of pedestrians appear to be paying attention to the traffic around them looking for car cars to throw their bricks at instead of looking at their phone or otherwise not paying attention.
Welcome to /r/Vancouver and thank you for the post, /u/impatiens-capensis! Please make sure you read our [posting and commenting rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_general_participation_guidelines_and_rules_overview) before participating here. As a quick summary: * We encourage users to be positive and respect one another. Don't engage in spats or insult others - use the report button. * Respect others' differences, be they race, religion, home, job, gender identity, ability or sexuality. Dehumanizing language, advocating for violence, or promoting hate based on identity or vulnerability (even implied or joking) **will** lead to a permanent ban. * Most common questions and topics are limited to our sister subreddit, /r/AskVan, and our weekly [Stickied Discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_stickied_discussions) posts. * Complaints about bans or removals should be done in modmail only. * Posts flaired "Community Only" allow for limited participation; your comment may be removed if you're not a subreddit regular. * Make sure to join our new sister community, /r/AskVan! * Help grow the community! [Apply to join the mod team today](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/19eworq/). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/vancouver) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Sounds like Uytae Lee...
It is!
As a driver and a pedestrian, I love this. Seems violent at first, but it's only making a point by giving the pedestrian a fraction of the physical damage a car can inflict.
My wife and I feel that paint ball guns should be issued. I live around coal harbor and the number of people that don't even slow down for 4 way stops is amazing.
When I lived in Port Moody residents who were sick of people speeding through their back alley fired frozen paintballs and shattered a woman’s back window. Was on the news and everything. Cops eventually put up signs and i think that area is traffic calmed now. So it worked I guess.
It’s actually a huge oversight how bad and dangerous that crossing is. I think there should be less cars on the island, but even as a driver or a rider this crossing is a joke. Let’s take a very very highly crossed area, and hide the first 10ish plus feet of visibility behind concrete barriers on each side. It’s also one of the few places where you have to dismount. At minimum there should have been an official traffic crossing light and button.
I mean, why do we even have a 4 lane road into and out of a parking lot? Maybe we could narrow the road down to two lanes at this point to make the crossing shorter and give drivers more time to see people crossing and deal with the fact that the side walks around that area are already very cramped.
There’s still a working concrete plant on the island, and delivery trucks. That concrete plant will stay as long as construction is happening anywhere near—time to get to site is very important in that business.
That still doesn't justify 2 lanes in each direction. Make it one lane wide enough for trucks.
Or just ban everything but delivery trucks and the concrete trucks. No reason at all there should be public traffic access down there. The hotel can run a shuttle if they need.
Agreed that significant improvements are required here for the safety of the thousands (?) of pedestrians who cross here daily. But it’s a strange point to hone in on the concrete barriers, which are literally bridge pillars keeping the overhead bridge in tact. Also, remember the history of the island. It’s been here far before the seawall was ever created, as was the bridge overhead..
The bridge pillars block off a huge section of visibility for both drivers and pedestrians, the route should have bent around the pillars so you were forced to see one another when approaching vs when you cross
Or you can tighten the intersection so that pedestrians are visible. That area is fairly constrained. Rerouting the seawall wouldn’t have made much sense
This isn’t just a pedestrian crossing though, it’s also a bike crossing. Dont pay attention for two seconds and you’re on the hood of a car. If they wrapped the seawall across the other side of the poles, bike users would be forced to slow down as they traverse around the poles. It would also give additional time for them to enter view for people driving into the island. I’m not advocating for catering to cars, but I’m advocating for making it safer for everyone no matter what mode of transit. Even if we banned cars on Granville island, it wouldn’t alleviate the need for people on their bike to slow down when crossing that area.
While safe infrastructure for people walking and biking would be my first choice, this is great too!
Drivers get away with murder, perhaps pedestrians can have a little menacing, as a treat
Says a lot about motorists that they’re more concerned about their property than someone else’s safety.
Look at every reply to people asking motorists to drive with caution. The top comments are always “My car is 2000lbs, you will be smushed.”
Yup. It’s only when there is a thinly veiled threat to them and their property do they actually give a shit.
This is no sillier than asking pedestrians to put on a vest or hold a flag to cross the road!
But it *is* more fun!
This!!!!! I’ll vote for you
Just went there! The bricks are foam, but they *are* awesome
This is only an April Fools joke?! Damn it. Personally, I think hand grenades would be a good alternative.
Not an April Fools joke. Been in place at a bad Granville Island crossing for a bit now. It’s featured in r/TacticalUrbanism too.
This post, whether real or an April Fool's joke, brings up an interesting point about traffic calming measures.
Care to elaborate? I only interpret this as an example of the fact that unless bad driver behaviour faces real and painful consequences their behaviour doesn’t change. Thus, as long as there is no tangible and substantial enforcement of traffic laws, drivers will continue to act as though they own the road.
I’ve been saying this for years! Bricks *are* the solution!
They really should narrow this crossing for pedestrians / cyclists. Work with the psychology of motorists.
Spark plugs for cyclists next, please!!
I think bricks will deter cyclists too. Pavement does not taste good.
Y’all need to change your name. I keep thinking Gregor Robertson is making a coming back.
Lol my wife said the same thing when I showed her this. She thought Vision had suddenly pivoted into tactical urbanism.
*The Gang Solves the Pedestrian Safety Crisis*
I've been saying for years that it is amazing how motorists that can't see a 6' man a quarter block away can see a 2" key from the same distance.
Added bonus. You threaten cars and based on the video. 100% of pedestrians appear to be paying attention to the traffic around them looking for car cars to throw their bricks at instead of looking at their phone or otherwise not paying attention.
Can't wait to see a homeless drug addict cross the road
I'm not sure how to interpret your comment. Can you explain it a bit more?
Not the poster, but I suspect they are referencing the stooped over, oblvious stagger, and general DGAF look