The intersection at 9 Avenue and Columbia Street is one the Sagebrush and Downtown Neighbourhood Associations are concerned about.

(BRENDAN KERGIN / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - People living along Columbia Street in Kamloops are concerned about pedestrian safety.

The Downtown and Sagebrush Neighbourhood Associations would like to see concerns around pedestrian visibility on Columbia Street addressed. The issue was brought up at the May 10 city council meeting, but the no action was taken.

Sagebrush Neighbourhood Association Don Ferguson isn't giving up. He says they will continue to fight for improvements.

“We were disappointed (council) didn’t think it was as much of an issue as the neighbourhood does,” he says.

Ferguson says the city’s standards for parking around intersections don’t necessarily match with the reality for pedestrians in area.

Vehicles parking along the Columbia Street and the nearby roads block the view for people crossing at intersections between 6 Avenue and 13 Avenue. Royal Inland Hospital employees use the surrounding neighbourhood to park and that is part of the problem, he says.

Ferguson says further improvements need to be made, including better marking for parking on the street, so people don’t have to stick their head into traffic to see what’s coming.

Bylaw requires vehicles to be parked at least six meters away from all intersection even if paint doesn’t reach the whole way, he says.

City transportation engineer Liam Baker says a recent report identified one intersection, 11th Avenue and Columbia Street, as a good place for an upgrade, and improvements were made last year. He says the city is continuing to monitor for pedestrian safety.

Baker says the city is wrapping up a project right now to make school zones safer for people walking, but there aren’t any imminent plans for anything else, other than some signage upgrades and curb painting.

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