There are fewer students making their way across Willingdon Avenue and Moscrop Street to Moscrop Secondary School these days, as the school year ends.
But a Burnaby resident who drives through the area on weekday mornings is worried about the safety of students and drivers when the school year starts up again in September.
Saira Virji has experienced firsthand the frustration of morning commuters driving into that intersection, getting stuck in the intersection when cars are backed up and the light changes.
She is particularly concerned about a crosswalk on Moscrop Street going to the school, which is at the top of an incline going down towards the Willingdon intersection, without lights to regulate crossings.
Part of the problem is that students don't always cross together at the busiest time, about 8: 30 a.m. - some wander across slowly, some run across, and there's no consistency to it, she said.
"I've seen this happen. A car was in front of me, and I guess he thought, I'm just going to let this guy keep walking and I'm going to go in front," Virji said. "And this guy had his iPod or something on and decides he's going to take a bolt. And he starts to run, and the car just missed him by inches."
She wants the city to either put in lights to regulate the section, or coordinate with the school to have a crossing guard in the mornings.
"Maybe the school can have someone standing there, or maybe they can use a light, so that kids cannot just walk across," she said, "so the lights are staggered and vehicles can get out of the way, and out of the intersection."
Virji has seen a crossing guard in the mornings near Royal Oak Avenue and thinks the area near Moscrop Secondary would be a better location for someone to guide pedestrians.
She has written to the city and the school board about her ideas for handling the crosswalk but has been told it's a budget issue, she said.
"I can't imagine that we're the only ones who have said something,' she said of the crosswalk's proximity to the intersection.
"I truly believe it's just a matter of time before somebody's going to get hurt," she added.
Burnaby's assistant director of engineering, Doug Louie, who is in charge of traffic engineering for the city, said the city is aware of the area.
"We think it's reasonably safe," he said but added the area does have a traffic congestion problem in the morning and afternoon.
"The congestion is only for a short period of time," he said.
The city considered putting in a signal, Louie said, but found it might actually decrease safety if students crossed against the light, and wouldn't lessen congestion.
The crosswalk is in a 30 km/hr school zone, he pointed out.
He advised that commuters in the area should be patient, as in all school zones.
The city has cooperated with the school and made safety improvements in the area, including restricting turning into the school site, increasing signage in the area and installing street dividers, Greg Frank, secretary-treasurer for the Burnaby school district, said in an email to the NOW.
The school also works with students to encourage caution and reinforce safe crossing procedures, he added.
A pedestrian was hit in the intersection in 2006 when she was crossing outside of the crosswalk. She was injured and taken to hospital.
