The route 14-year-old Muska Behzad took on her way home from Byrne Creek Community School the day she was killed by a dump truck has gotten extra attention from the City of Burnaby and Burnaby RCMP ahead of the new school year.
The dump truck involved in the crash was associated with Ledingham McAllister’s Southgate City project nearby.
The accident happened on a stretch of 11th Avenue with no sidewalks but lots of truck traffic from three major construction projects (the Rosemary Brown Arena, Southgate City and a Metro Vancouver water main project) and a trucking logistics company (18 Wheels Warehousing & Trucking) nearby.
One neighbour told the NOW she had been hit by a truck mirror just six months earlier while walking in the same area Behzad was killed.
New sidewalk
Starting this week, the city said it will be installing a new, temporary asphalt sidewalk on that stretch of 11th Avenue.
“This new sidewalk is designed to provide a higher level of safety for all pedestrians including children, the elderly, and people with mobility issues,” public affairs manager Chris Bryan said in a recent email to the NOW.
The city is also installing four speed humps on 11th Avenue, a raised crosswalk at 15th Street and new signage and pavement markings, according to Bryan.
A barrier on 11th Avenue at 17th Street will stay put, he said, to force all truck traffic leaving Southgate to use 17th Street (dump trucks) or 18th Street (tandem trucks with larger turning radii).
The city has already widened 17th Street between 10th and 11th avenues to enable trucks leaving the Southgate project to drive directly to 10th Avenue rather than take 11th Avenue to 15th or 18th streets.
“This is the shortest route between the Southgate project and the truck route on 10th,” Bryan said.
Meanwhile, 16th Street, which had been blocked by a Metro Vancouver water main project, is now open and will offer another access for trucks exiting the 18 Wheels facility, removing the need for them to travel down 11th Avenue to 15th Street, according to Bryan.
Police work
Burnaby RCMP has also been working to improve safety in the area.
The detachment told the NOW it has met with Southgate City builder Marcon, The Traffic Control Company, and 18 Wheels for “in-person education,” reminding the companies of the start of the new school year and making safety recommendations, including trucks slowing to a safe speed (10 km/h) and using flashing amber lights when entering and leaving the site.
Burnaby RCMP has also hosted two commercial vehicle enforcements in the area.
During one of those, officers checked 32 vehicles and took 26 of them out of service for safety violations – including five trucks associated with nearby construction sites.
Traffic services members have also been in the area numerous times since Behzad’s death to monitor the interaction between commercial vehicle truck traffic and pedestrians, “taking note of how the roadway and sidewalks are shared and how the traffic control company coordinates this use,” according to an RCMP email.
In the coming days, Burnaby RCMP plans to present recommendations to the city’s engineering department “based on first-hand observations and community outreach,” the detachment said.
Finally, youth section officers will also conduct pedestrian safety education at Byrne Creek Community School, where Behzad would have been going into Grade 9 this year.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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