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Nicholson Road is an ongoing photo project aimed at sharing and celebrating the different communities in Metro Vancouver. Each week Vancouver Is Awesome will be featuring an image from the previous week, shot in one of the many 'hoods around town in order to draw your attention a little bit outside of the hyper-focus that we usually have on the City of Vancouver. |
Notice anything different about the crosswalks in this week's photo? Look closely at the two extra paths criss-crossing the intersection. Some of you have probably figured it out by now, but in case you haven't, you're looking at Metro Van's first Pedestrian Scramble intersection since the 1970s! First introduced to the region around 1953, Vancouverites enjoyed a bit of walkable freedom at the intersections of Georgia and Granville, and down the hill at Hastings and Granville until they were removed about 20 years later in order to facilitate the free and efficient flow of traffic (the #1 priority of planning at the time).
Fast forward to today, and the focus on great urban environments is beginning to place people (pedestrians is such a 20th century term!) back on top of the transportation pyramid. Last year on December 14, 2011, the City of Richmond officially opened the Steveston Scramble at Moncton St and No 1 Rd in Steveston. The earlier 4-way stop intersection, adjacent to Steveston Community Park (and the historic interurban tracks), and the primary gateway to Steveston Village, had become increasingly difficult to manage in the busy summer months. Conflicts would frequently arise as loads of visitors tried to cross while cars attempted to make right or left turns. The solution was to prevent right turns on red, and give the people a full priority option to cross in whichever direction they please!
The scramble is only activated by pressing the button (it isn't included in the regular phasing) so cars won't have to idle if there's no one crossing in the slower months. And I should add - what a rewarding button it is to press! The sound definitely told me something awesome was on the way. This is no regular, "be-deep!" or "kli-kloh" crosswalk button sound, let me tell you. It felt like I was on a game show and was about to win big.
I'll be keeping an eye out as summer nears and Steveston starts buzzing, but in the meantime why not hop on a bus and pay the Village a visit for yourself! You'll be surprised what you can find out there!
Archives of the Nicholson Road project can be found HERE.
