This project will add a raised crosswalk at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Dundas Street in Nanaimo. This location is adjacent to Georgia Avenue Elementary School, and forms part of the Georgia Avenue Slow Street, a key active transportation corridor in Nanaimo’s Harewood Neighbourhood.
The goals of this project are to improve road safety for vulnerable road users and encourage active school travel and aligns with City of Nanaimo policies, including:
The raised crosswalk project is within a school zone located in a socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhood. Nanaimo’s Official Community Plan includes policy direction to prioritize road safety improvements based on proximity to schools and socio-economic factors, due to the strength of these projects’ potential impacts.
Traffic safety improvements in school zones are generally considered high impact, as these areas see high volumes of vulnerable road users (children) twice daily on school days. The strength of impact for school zone safety improvements are heightened within lower-income areas, as these schools tend to see higher numbers of children travelling to and from school via active transportation.
Despite relatively high active transportation use, there are still a significant number of daily vehicle pickups and drop offs at Georgia Avenue Elementary. Problematically, many of these pickups and drop offs occur on Howard Avenue, (a major road fronting the western boundary of the school) and create significant traffic safety issues in that area. The City of Nanaimo is currently undertaking a project to improve road safety along Howard Avenue, and to divert pickups and drop offs to Georgia Avenue. As such, the raised crosswalk project on Georgia Avenue will proactively address potential traffic safety concerns resulting from an anticipated increase in traffic volumes onto Georgia Avenue during pickup and drop off times.
The Georgia Avenue Elementary raised crosswalk has the added advantage of contributing to an ongoing “Slow Street” project along Georgia Avenue. Traffic safety improvements on Georgia Avenue not only benefit the school, but the wider community as well, who use Georgia Avenue as a key active transportation corridor to access local services and destinations.
Why a raised crosswalk?
The British Columbia Active Transportation Design Guidelines is a key reference document for the City of Nanaimo when designing new active transportation facilities. These guidelines recommend raised crosswalks in school zones, given this intervention’s ability to increase pedestrian visibility, slow down drivers, and improve accessibility for people who use mobility devices. This section of Georgia Avenue is neither an emergency route nor a bus route, but it is a school zone and a local road, making it an ideal location for a raised crosswalk, according to the BC Active Transportation Design Guidelines.
Photo source: Shutterstock. Photo is shown for illustration purposes only and may not be an accurate representation of the project.
