Opinion:
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Without realizing it, I’ve been compiling a list.
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It’s a list of intersections in Vancouver that present too many hazards. Intersections where you have to have your head on a swivel, yet still you can be taken unaware. Intersections where vehicular manslaughter is an ever-present risk.
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Top of my list is the intersection at Howe Street and Pacific Boulevard.
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The area has a Fresh Market grocery store, a London Drugs, several coffee shops and restaurants, a school offering postgrad certificates, the Vancouver House condo building with 59 storeys of occupants, tons of bike traffic, and, of course, the beach. You can’t turn south onto Hornby Street, so Howe Street is the first possible right-hand turn off of Pacific coming from the Burrard Bridge. It’s a busy intersection at all hours.
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Sunrise
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None of this is exceptional, but this intersection is particularly fraught. There’s a particularly high degree of distractions. I’d argue that well over 75 per cent of pedestrians are either on their devices or wearing earbuds. Due to the school, pedestrians in this area tend to be young. Due to the proximity of the beach and marina, there’s a recreational aspect to the activities in the area. Beach Avenue, a block away, is a protected, two-way bike path, so in fine weather, there’s an unbroken chain of cyclists. Like I said, busy.
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What I do now, rather than even attempt to cross over the non-vehicular traffic on Pacific onto Howe, is go up to Drake Street, over two blocks to Howe, then cross over Pacific without having to make a right-hand turn. If this seems excessive, let me explain why I’m trying to make this my habit.
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It was a beautiful evening in July. I was heading to the North Shore. I came off the Burrard Bridge, making my way for that first possible right-hand turn so that I could get to Beach Avenue. I caught a red light on Pacific and began checking the traffic for my turn onto Howe Street. The light turned green. It was my turn to go. I had my head on a swivel, double-checking for the foot traffic coming from east and west. I checked the bike lane where cyclists blithely proceed within their unique designation of being neither fish nor fowl. And what about left-hand turning traffic? Traffic signals seemed like mere suggestions. Immediately around the corner an Uber driver was dropping off a fare. The woman behind me honked and gesticulated wildly. I directed her irritability to the car directly in front of me. The Uber driver moved and I started my turn. Just as I was about to do so, my eye caught a whiff of movement. Coming up alongside me was what appeared to be a driverless scooter. I could see the handles, but I couldn’t see anyone actually on the scooter. I stopped suddenly as this ghost rider passed in front of me. And that’s when I saw him.
