On Tuesday, at around 5 pm, I was hit by a driver while crossing the cross-walk at this on-ramp. I've reported the incident to 3-1-1, and thankfully I wasn't injured, nor was my bike damaged at all. In fact, to call it a collision is overstating the small bump I had to my rear tire, and my near-loss of balance immediately following. Had the driver started half a second sooner, or pressed just a little harder on the gas, the story might be different.
In the 10 years I've lived in the Hillhurst community, I've seen more pedestrian and cyclists hit in that crosswalk than I can count, and while none that I was witness to resulted in any serious injury, the accident statistics tell a different story.
Here's the intersection in question:
http://metronews.ca/news/131550/being-struck-twice-in-same-crosswalk-too-much-for-pedestrian/
Some issues that I see:
- Line of sight is blocked by pedestrians coming up the hill or waiting to cross, light standards, and the grade of the hill
- Stop lines are not clearly demarcated, but even if they were, stop lines further back would completely block line of sight for drivers using the exit.
- Drivers simply do not look to their right, (or even to the sidewalk on the left) while waiting for a large enough spot to merge into the flow of traffic. They see the opening, and hit the gas.
Any thoughts on how we can get the city to take this intersection seriously?
14th street / memorial
Submitted by theorangejacket on
That's my neighbourhood and I know that intersection well. Really, really bad spot. In fact there is a bunch of lacking infrastructure in that area in general. I've had a few near hits myself. My strategy is just be super careful and to make eye contact with drivers.
I agree something should be done. It's not even a good intersection for drivers either. This is classic Calgary - too much traffic for the design of the road. Built in the 60s for a city of 350K but not working for a city of a Million plus. Drivers take 14th street in a desperate attempt to dodge the quagmire that the Crowchild bridge has become. Another monument to 60s city planning that figured Calgary would never get this big.
I had the same happen, at the
Submitted by Richard Z on
I had the same happen, at the onramp coming from Bow Trail feeding into SB 14 St just before the 9 Ave overpass. My driver was on a cellphone, for good measure. The main reason here is that drivers do not look to their right. The one saving grace of these two spots is that collisons happen at slow speeds because cars are stopped waiting to enter traffic. The offramps at the southwest side and the northeast side of the bridge are more dangerous as cars don't slow down, but at least a bike or pedestrian in or approaching the crosswalk is in their line of vision.
On the onramps, lights could help (ped/cyclist presses button, light turns red immediately) but if you put the lights were drivers see them they'd be in the way of them looking for approaching traffic. Stop instead of yield signs. In either case, they could stripe the crosswalk, put in blinking yellow lights, speedbumps on the approach to the crosswalk, and "yield to cyclists and pedestrians in crosswalk" signs. Or something.
Perhaps we can get the ward 7 and 8 aldermen to kick Transportation Department into action.
This is sadly an old problem that has never been addressed
Submitted by coldbike on
I was hit there back in 1987. I am a pretty cautious pedestrian but the car that got me was going fast enough to come up the ramp and hit me as I walked across.
Are we allowed to cycle there? I was under the impression that we needed to walk our bikes on sidewalks and crosswalks.
It's not very clear.
Submitted by Chealion on
The sidewalk on both side is actually marked as the bike route to cross the river (and why it's wider than a normal sidewalk). I really dislike crossing the bridge as a pedestrian because of the two spots on either side of the river (EB Bow to SB 14th and EB Memorial to SB 14th) inevitably lead to a driver slamming on their brakes because they can't see you if you aren't running across. Makes going to Kensington a little bit more colorful.
As far as I know, there is no
Submitted by Richard Z on
As far as I know, there is no rule against riding through a crosswalk. City and Calgary Police Service keep saying that it's illegal but have been unable or unwilling to provide the regulation that prohibits it. Alberta Transportation has confirmed to me that there is no provincial regulation that prohibits it.
Riding on the sidewalk is illegal, except when the City specifically declares it to be ok, or it's a pathway. The Parks Bylaw states that "any bridge or structure contiguous with a pathway" is part of the pathway, so it's ok to ride on the bridge between the MUP ramps. The west side connection to the bike route on Broadview Rd (ie across the onramp in question here) is designated as a pathway on the City's pathway map. The connection between the NE corner of 10 Ave SW and the bridge is under approval (has been since the 10 Ave/14 St intersection opened 8 months ago). On the west side, there's a sign that designates the W sidewalk along 14 St north of 10 Ave as a pathway, but noone knows how far you're allowed to ride.
~Thanks very much for that information.
Submitted by rustabout1981 on
I was wondering about this actually and it really clears up a lot of confusion I've had.
Sometimes it's to the driver's benefit if you cross and are out of the way sooner, instead of them having to wait for you to unmount and walk slowly across the intersection.
I am the guy in the Metro article
Submitted by speasley on
After the article was published, I got several phone calls from the City. For a few weeks, it seemed like they were finally going to take care of this dangerous crosswalk. But I have not heard anything in months.
The City told me that the crosswalk would be included in a pilot program for a new type of flashing signal. I was also told that the area would be evalulated for line painting and signage. It remains unchanged. I can understand the flashing signals taking a while (going through the RFP process and all that) but the City has done nothing to make this safer.
What is also concerning is that phoning 311 is iffy. The City spokesperson for the article claims that zero reports had been received for that crosswalk in a certain time frame, even though I had personally made two or three. I also later discovered that 311 recorded that I stated that I was "almost hit" in the crosswalk when I was actually struck by a vehicle on two ocassions. There are some issues with the way the City is handling these things.
I will follow up with the City about the progress of that flashing signal initiative. I'll report back.
followup
Submitted by Ubermoogle on
When I spoke with 3-1-1 yesterday, they also told me that no one had complained about that intersection, so... I'm not really sure what to think at this point.
I'm sure they don't even keep
Submitted by Richard Z on
I'm sure they don't even keep track. And because they're all ramps and not intersections, it probably doesn't register on a list of collisions either. I know, since my collision doesn't even show up on the map that OpenFile did: http://calgary.openfile.ca/openroad
But 14 St & Memorial lists 7 bike/car collisions serious enough to be reported to the police in the last 10 years. And according to this: http://calgary.openfile.ca/blog/curator-blog/map/2012/most-dangerous-int... thatputs it in the top 15 or so dangerous spots.
very dangerous
Submitted by ianphilthompson on
I ride this every day, the only way I get around the danger is to get off the sidewalk/crosswalk after 14 ST SW bridge and loop around the little traffic circle there. Hard to do in traffic, but definitely worth it.
Never ride the sidewalk
Submitted by snowandscience on
I always take a lane across the bridge (not crossing MUP-MUP, but MUP - beltline), to the chagrin of the motorists - I get honked at here more than anywhere else in the city. Both the Memorial Drive/14th St SB and the exit off SB 14 to 9 Ave are so dangerous, blind for motorists (not their fault) and blind for pedestrians/cyclists on the sidewalk. I nearly hit a pedestrian at this intersection in my car - from the accounts on this board, doesn't look like it's the only time. Should definitely be high priority for Ward reps in this area (14 St/Memorial is Ward 7, 14 St/9Ave is my Ward 8). Safety issue for everyone involved. As often as I drive the ramp from memorial to 14th St, I can't help but think the best solution here is to take it out completely. Motorists can access 14th St via Kensington Rd, or crossing Crowchild and exiting on 12th Ave SW. Or like usual, someone will have to be killed before a major change happens. Sigh.
I know that place well
Submitted by bike-run on
Technically you have the right of way, but, on a Yield onramp like that, you should assume the driver is looking left for an opening in traffic, and not risk crossing in front from their right, unless you make eye contact.
* Side note - I hate dark tinted front windows - you can't see where the driver is looking, and can't make eye contact with them.
In the past I've always crossed *behind* the first vehicle in line, and have never been hit there (on foot or on my bike).
Technically...
Submitted by Ubermoogle on
And technically, drivers should not be blocking the crosswalk, turning without checking their right side for oncoming pedestrians/cyclists, and so on and so forth.
I agree that cyclists and pedestrians shouldn't blindly enter a crosswalk and expect everyone to magically cease all forward momentum, but before this particular accident, I did, in fact come to a complete stop, waited for the driver decide what she was doing, and entered the crosswalk once it was clear that there wasn't a break in traffic large enough for her to enter. Apparently she didn't come to the same conclusion I did, or a car had changed lanes, or whatever happened...
I do think the revision to the cross-walk location is a good one, but I wonder if it will be effective.
An update from the City. Progress.
Submitted by speasley on
Hello, it's me from the Metro article again. I just spoke with the City and got a good update.
This crosswalk will be undergoing a renovation this construction season. The area was studied. Different sign and signal types were considered but would not be effective due to the poor design of that particular area.
The solution is that the crosswalk will be realigned. This will allow the first (merging) car to sit ahead of the crosswalk. The next car in the queue will (or should) stop behind the crosswalk. This makes sense, since it is the first driver in the line who looks north while the ones behind look ahead (as they do not have a view of the traffic yet). The crossing will direct the sidewalk traffic between the first and second vehicles. This is also what happens a lot of the time now, as sidewalk traffic accomodates the first car that drives into the crosswalk. So this behaviour will be encouraged and formalized with the crosswalk realignment.
The City did not have an exact date for this construction but said it will indeed be a part of this construction season.
Hopefully no one else is hit in the meantime.
I wonder how they're going to
Submitted by Ubermoogle on
I wonder how they're going to accomodate that with the MUP offramp and current path system on the 14th St bridge and overpass over Memorial. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Probably the best solution
Submitted by winterrider on
Given the nature of that intersection, I can't think of any better solution than that. I look forward to seeing how it turns out.
Update!
Submitted by Ubermoogle on
Construction of the new setup at this intersection started on Saturday morning. Still inaccessible, but looks like it's mostly done, and will likely be done within the next couple days. Looks good in theory. Hope to see how well it works in practice very soon.