Editor: Re: “Township to take second look at ‘scary’ intersection,” (The Times, Oct. 25).
Your story about the 256 Street and Robertson Crescent intersection and council’s belated plan to install an overhead flashing light makes me wonder about our decision-makers in Langley. It’s another example of closing the barn door after the horse has escaped.
I’ve lived in the neighbourhood for over 35 years and have witnessed many drivers fail to stop at this intersection, so much so that my family usually slows to a crawl when crossing Robertson.
I, however, don’t believe that the intersection is at fault. The stop signs are large, reflective and always clean, the post has a red reflector, the road has a white stop line, the centre line is double and always freshly painted, and you can see the eastbound stop sign from 248 Street, with good eyesight.
From experience, speaking in general terms and not about the more recent fatal crash, I believe that most drivers who fail to stop are distracted or deliberately don’t stop, often assuming that no one was coming the other way.
Councillor Kim Richter calls it scary, but I call it better than most rural intersections in the Township.
The Township, TransLink and the BC government are all responsible for various roads in Langley, and none of them seems to know how to mark the roads. There are very specific guidelines for lane marking and signage so that drivers are aware of lurking hazards and when it’s safe.
Too many roads, and intersections in particular, are in desperate need of correction. Signage needs to be visible from a reasonable distance, while centre lines need to be double, single, dotted, or a combination of a single solid and dotted line.
It only takes half an hour to drive around rural Langley to find a dotted line going right through an intersection (264 Street at 36 Avenue), or a dotted line leading up to an intersection and starting again immediately on the other side, or a single line where a double line should be, or a double solid where there should be a single solid going one way with a dotted going the other way.
Recent changes by the Township to replace dotted centre lines with solid lines on straight, safe stretches of rural road will in fact lead to increased crashes. Drivers won’t be able to identify approaching hazards because everything looks the same. It follows that many will also try to pass when it’s not safe.
An intersection needs to look like an intersection. If that means an overhead flashing light, fine, but let’s make sure the basics are in order first. Many intersections are completely invisible until you’re in the middle of it. Double yellow centre lines, stop signs, stop lines, a dedicated mower for intersections and police enforcement are all important.
There also needs to be a review of which intersections need two-way stops, four-way stops, overhead warning lights or traffic lights. This is long past due. Even moving the two-way stop signs to the road with less traffic would help, since fewer cars means fewer cars going through stop signs.
And finally, a word of advice: stop means stop. I bet many drivers don’t even cast a quick glance to either side before entering an intersection. That means they’re partly at fault, even if the other driver missed the stop sign.
My heart goes out to all those touched by last year’s tragic collision. Let’s fix Langley’s roads before somebody else dies.
Ross MacIntosh,
Aldergrove