According to a Vancouver teen, there are few downsides to installing a new crosswalk on Nanaimo Street.
The 14-year-old local named Elsa has been gathering signatures from neighbours who also want a traffic light and crosswalk at the intersection of Nanaimo Street and East 3rd Avenue (or, alternatively, East 4th Avenue).
So far, the teen collected 75 from around the neighbourhood. An online petition amassed much more, reached 359 out of a goal of 500 signatures as of Feb. 25.
According to the young resident, the absence of a traffic light impacts many members of the community.
Kids wanting to go to Garden Park, older kids wanting to meet with friends across the street, folks who take the bus, and those who work on Commercial Drive must cross the road several blocks away, at East 1st Avenue or East 6th Avenue, just to get across Nanaimo Street.
"One last unsafe part of crossing at Nanaimo and 3rd at the moment is that it looks clear and then a car whips around the corner from the west of Nanaimo because cars cut through there all the time," reads the petition.
The teen believes a new traffic light would help make the area safer for all residents.
"I am always terrified to cross there," she recalls of the crosswalk at East 6th Avenue. "That corner is terrifying to cross and the people driving on Nanaimo do not stop for pedestrians."
Coun. Christine Boyle, who helped spread the teen's message on Twitter, agrees. "I saw two cars almost hit someone crossing at 1st and Nanaimo, the nearest intersection with lights, after Elsa and I met this afternoon."
