Dear blog collaborators, especially those who bike/drive Burrard more regularly than I.
Someone sent me this question. Can you answer it?
I had a bike crash July 20, 2012 at Burrard and Pacific. I was knocked out and taken to SPH. What has the city done since your May 28th piece mentioned COV was planning on making it harder for cars to turn right there?
“A Vancouver effort to make pedestrians safer is thinking outside the crosswalk box” May 28th, 2012 …..”cars, in spite of signs telling them they couldn’t, were still trying to turn right from Burrard onto Pacific. The city is making an adjustment to that corner to make it much harder for a car to turn right, which should bring the crash rate back down.”
This intersection represents one of Vancouver’s most challenging traffic engineering problems. The Burrard and Pacific corner sits at a critical confluence of cycling infrastructure, heavy pedestrian traffic, and vehicle movements near the Burrard Bridge approach. The complexity stems from multiple user groups converging at high volumes during peak periods.
The city’s May 2012 promise to address illegal right turns highlighted a persistent enforcement challenge. Despite “No Right Turn” signage, drivers continued making the prohibited movement, creating dangerous conflicts with cyclists in the protected bike lane and pedestrians crossing Pacific Street. The intersection’s design made these violations both tempting for drivers seeking bridge access and particularly hazardous for vulnerable road users.
Physical modifications typically involve strategic placement of concrete barriers, bollards, or extended curb bulges that physically prevent turning movements rather than relying solely on signage. These engineering solutions prove more effective than enforcement alone, as they eliminate the possibility of violations rather than depending on driver compliance.
The tragic irony of this cyclist’s crash occurring just weeks after the city’s safety commitment underscores the urgency of infrastructure improvements at problematic intersections. Vancouver’s growing cycling network requires coordinated improvements to ensure protected bike lanes connect safely through major intersections, particularly where they interface with bridge approaches and high-traffic corridors.
The incident also highlights the broader challenge of retrofitting established infrastructure to accommodate multiple transportation modes safely, requiring ongoing vigilance and rapid implementation of promised safety measures.
