The City of Port Coquitlam installed a rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB) at the intersection of Pitt River Road and Harbour Street to improve pedestrian crossing safety until the intersection is completely rebuilt in the future. This project addressed a safety need for the community on a busy arterial road with confusing sightlines.

A pedestrian was hit by a car at the intersection of Pitt River Road and Harbour Street in fall 2023. Thankfully, in this instance the pedestrian escaped with only minor physical injuries. This crossing of Pitt River Road is connected to a network of local streets and cut-through pathways leading to schools and parks and is frequented by school-aged children. The area served is a mix of single-family and multi-family residential properties.

Vision Zero grant funding helped the City install a solar-powered RRFB on the existing north crosswalk across Pitt River Road as an interim improvement until full intersection improvements can be constructed with a nearby development. The presence of the RRFB will help alert and re-focus drivers in both directions for pedestrians waiting to safety cross Pitt River Road. RRFBs have been shown to dramatically increase driver yield compliance for pedestrians, which not only reduces pedestrian injury risk but also encourages healthy physical activity and active transportation by improving pedestrians’ perception of safety when they are crossing streets where protective treatments such as RRFBs have been implemented.

Once the interim solar-powered RRFB has been de-commissioned and replaced by the ultimate hardwired dual-RRFB, City crews will keep the solar RRFB units and deploy them at other similar locations where safety improvements are immediately needed but may be unfunded or also waiting on the development of off-site works. This will ensure that the Vision Zero grant funds can create a legacy of safety improvements that go beyond this initial project.

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