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McDougall Hill Pedestrian Bridge

Advance crosswalk signals could be installed near the top of McDougall Hill so that drivers are not surprised by crossing pedestrians.

I sorta-kinda agree with an earlier post:
Install the pedestrian bridge
Install a flashing amber crosswalk but only if necessary
 
I believe this debate is stupid. This will tackle two birds with one stone. We get a beautifully designed bridge with an amazing view and people get to cross safely. Cars will also not need to stop and idle, reducing emissions, collisions and pedestrian accidents. I’ve seen pedestrians get hit on a level road as it is a red light and absolutely their turn to cross, yet they still get hit. Because driving is 100% just putting trust in a strangers hand and humans are stupid. Very stupid. There are 2 reasons not to have a crosswalk here for every reason you find.
 
Yes, this kind of hits right on several issues. My first thought was the pedestrian bridge was over kill and then I thought about the cross walk which is in a bit of challenging location.

I don't know if this location has had a lot of incidents compared to other downtown location or not. If it has, then I could see the safety argument.

The bridge has a nice view and connects nicely to scenic path to the west. However, it seems to me this bridge is really more for traffic flow (ie. auto traffic) than pedestrians and I think they are trying to sell it the other way around which kind of irks me.
 
I would have to disagree with that end part. This bridge is built for pedestrians. Having cars stop here just doesn’t make sense logically, probably why it hasn’t been done to this date. You need to remember that 5 years from now this bridge will have both the funicular and the gondola beside it. The purpose of this bridge will shift then from being “practical” to being a tourist destination.
 
I would have to disagree with that end part. This bridge is built for pedestrians. Having cars stop here just doesn’t make sense logically, probably why it hasn’t been done to this date. You need to remember that 5 years from now this bridge will have both the funicular and the gondola beside it. The purpose of this bridge will shift then from being “practical” to being a tourist destination.
I would agree with the funicular part, but spending city infrastructure money to accommodate a gondola that is not there yet is premature. From the point of the driver, the stop may not be logical, but for the pedestrian it is the most direct route.

The city talks endlessly about being bike friendly, but seems to ignore pedestrians most of the time. As someone who walks a lot downtown I already feel like a second or third class citizen. I don't want us to become like Las Vegas where you have to take an arduous and circuitous route to cross every major street, just so traffic flow can be maintained.
 
Having a crosswalk there would create too much congestion.
Says who? And for how long? Remember, our City Plan and Energy Transition strategy is pointing us to a 1.5ºC-compatible city that sees a mode shift. We're in a climate emergency...
 
The crosswalk has only been there for what 50 years or more? So, whatever "congestion" problem there is must not have been that serious.
 
I must be thinking of somewhere nearby - thought I crossed somewhere around there, but it was some time ago.
Maybe somewhere nearby, but in the approximately 30 years that I can clearly remember the configuration of that area there has not been a crosswalk at the location being discussed.
On a side note I'm actually quite pleased that on this most recent road work, that they installed a median along that stretch to stop drivers from making left turns either just as you come up the hill or southbound trying to go to the Mac.
 

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