Dear Editor:
Well, well, hard to believe. One can see in the streets of North Vancouver many changes lately. Some beneficial, some not so.
At the intersection of Highland Boulevard and Belmont Avenue, despite the fact that soon Capilano traffic will be for many months redirected to Highland Boulevard, there are two newly installed curb extensions on each end of a wide white zebra crosswalk and two big signs hung above it. The right, northward lane on Highland Boulevard is directed into the east side of Belmont.
I did learn from the transportation engineering department that all this is done (maybe on trial basis) for better pedestrian safety and according to TAC regulations; however, none of them were mentioned. But, anyone can imagine the problem in that place, where two lanes on each side of Highland Boulevard are suddenly changed to one lane in each direction.
Unnecessary problems will be extreme at rush hours, when traffic on Highland Boulevard will increase substantially with the Capilano detour. That change into one lane (in each direction) all of a sudden will cause idling of cars forced to follow it.
People living on the east side of Belmont from Highland Boulevard will absorb a new load of traffic. The cars returning back to Highland Boulevard will have to stop to get back in the lane and make a ride up north longer.
I believe that North Vancouver pedestrians are not hens and drivers not blind; the existing well-marked crosswalk on the roadway as well as those two big signs above it are satisfactory for safety.
Or will there be, perhaps, in the near future a paid guide directing all traffic (cars and pedestrians) at this place?
Just hallucinating.
Vladimir Cicha
North Vancouver
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