The best bet for improving safety at a crosswalk on Highway 3B near the Colombo Lodge in Trail would be to add bumpouts as part of a larger traffic reconfiguration, city council has been told.
Council heard this week from Ryan Oakley and Greg Kinnear of the local Ministry of Transportation office, who were invited to present the findings of a 2024 traffic study that determined the crosswalk doesn’t merit having lights added.
Oakley said crosswalks are a “very emotional topic” for communities, which is why engineering guidelines are used to help make decisions about what type of crosswalks go where and why.
He said it’s a fine line managing the expectations of drivers and pedestrians to avoid unintended negative consequences. For example, he said, too much signage can be distracting, or pedestrians can be lulled into a false sense of safety by a push-button crossing.
“We’re very cautious about where we install activated crossings, cautious not to do too many to change the relationship between drivers and pedestrians,” he said.
A traffic count in April 2024 looked at peak traffic volumes and how many opportunities pedestrians had to cross the highway without traffic needing to stop. Oakley said the traffic was “considerable,” while the pedestrian count was “quite low,” although that can change depending on the time of day and day of the week.
While he said the current crosswalk meets provincial guidelines, other communities have added bumpouts to shorten crossing lengths and increase the visibility of pedestrians who might be hidden by parked cars.
Oakley said the traffic count did not take special events at the Colombo Lodge into consideration. Councillor Nick Cashol said a recent banquet drew 250 people, many of whom had to cross the highway because they parked across the street. He said further functions are expected at the lodge this year and noted that loaded tractor trailers come through the Gulch every day.
Kinnear said the ministry could work with event organizers on special event permits that could spell out parking, pedestrian, and traffic management.
Oakley added they have worked with other municipalities, including Castlegar and Rossland, to reconfigure corridors to make them more pedestrian friendly, addressing not just crosswalks, but parking, bumpouts, and road widths. Adding a push button with lights to a crosswalk doesn’t gurantee better safety, he said.
Reconfiguring the Gulch might also come with a speed reduction. Oakley said there was a lot of “improvement potential” depending on the city’s appetite, but he cautioned that engineering alone won’t solve “problematic drivers.”
“If I could put up a $200 sign and say ‘This is now safe,’ I would do it. But that doesn’t answer the question completely,” he said.
The issue with crosswalks that aren’t used very often is that drivers become used to not seeing anyone in them, and the onus then falls on pedestrians to make eye contact with the driver to make sure they stop, Oakley added.
Bumpouts have the added advantage of creating the space for the infrastructure required to put in overhead lights, he said.
Mayor Colleen Jones wondered if the Gulch could be reduced to two lanes from its present three, allowing for angle parking on both sides. Oakley said the ministry would be open to looking at that idea, although they would have to figure out what to do about the dual left turn lanes at the Highway 3B-22 intersection.
Councillor Nick Cashol introduced a notice of motion that would direct city staff to talk to the Ministry of Transportation about options for reconfiguring Rossland Avenue. It’s expected to come before council at its next meeting in August.
The matter of the Colombo Lodge crosswalk was initially raised by local school trustee Terry Hanik, who asked that lights be added.
