Almost two months after a single-vehicle crash on Canada Way claimed two lives, the City of Burnaby is looking to implement additional safety measures.
According to a report presented to the public safety committee meeting this week, staff want to improve the stretch between Rayside and Haszard streets.
The recommended countermeasures include: installing a “curve warning ahead” sign for westbound drivers; putting in a new and improved speed reader board with a flashing white light; installing reflective delineator posts along the centre line of Canada Way and raised pavement markers along the white dashed lines for the length of the curve; adding reflective markers to the face of the existing barriers along the north side of the road for improved visibility at night; reinstalling barriers at the northwest corner of the intersection to protect against a crash with the hydro pole; and continuing with RCMP speed enforcement.
As for photo radar, the report stated it’s a matter that “will likely require further discussions and political support and consensus at municipal platforms, such as the Union of B.C. Municipalities.” Photo radar was introduced in B.C. in 1996 by the New Democrats but was scrapped when the Liberals came to power in 2001.
Staff want to see their recommendations implemented this year. The changes, expected to cost $90,000, would be funded from the 2017 capital budget for traffic control devices. The city will look to ICBC’s road safety improvement program to offset some of the costs.
On March 16, a black Subaru sedan travelling westbound at a high speed crashed into a power pole at 5451 Canada Way, killing a male driver and his female passenger.
Since the crash, the Burnaby RCMP has issued 371 traffic violations along Canada Way, with 236 of them related to speed or the use of electronic devices.
There were 20 reported crashes at the Canada Way-Rayside intersection between 2013 and 2015, according to ICBC data. Of those, 11 were property damage-only crashes and nine were more severe or fatal.
