Making Surrey’s intersections safer can include removing right-hand turn slip lanes

The City of Surrey is looking at ways to make intersections safer for pedestrians, cyclists and transit users.

“One of the things we do assess is the right-hand turn slip lanes,” Jason Colenutt, director of design and construction for the City of Surrey, told Global News Tuesday.

One of the intersections currently being investigated is at King George Boulevard and 64th Avenue.

Colenutt said two corners of the intersection have slip lanes, while the other two do not.

He said intersections without slip lanes mean pedestrians will have to walk a shorter distance to cross major roads.

“This intersection was re-done in 2019,” Colenutt said. “The pedestrian refuge islands were updated into smart channelization and two of the islands were removed for safety reasons.”

He said they have noticed fewer pedestrian-related incidents since the changes were made.

“Our Vision Zero program, which was instituted by the city in 2019, has worked hard to assess where the riskiest locations are in the city and worked to improve those and we have seen a positive impact since that program has been instituted,” he added.

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Colenutt said the city will continue to look for opportunities to make other intersections and areas safer.

“The intersection at 88th and King George has often been touted as quite a high-risk intersection and the completion of 84th Avenue from King George to 140th, we’re hoping to alleviate some of the pressure on that intersection there to reduce the number of impacts there but that is one that has come up on our list of statistics of being a high-risk intersection.”

Colenutt said the city is targeting the intersections with the greatest risk and will have the highest impact on the residents.

Meanwhile, Surrey RCMP is investigating a fatal motorcycle accident at the intersection of 168 Street and Fraser Highway Tuesday afternoon. This is an intersection that is identified on Vision Zero’s map as being an area of concern for collisions.

Police said around 1:15 p.m. officers received a report of a collision involving a vehicle and a motorcycle.

When officers arrived, one person was found with significant injuries and despite life-saving measures, did not survive.

The intersection of 168 Street and Fraser Highway was closed in all directions and traffic was being rerouted. Fraser Highway was closed westbound at 176 Street and 168 Street was closed northbound just south of Fraser Highway.

Anyone who was travelling in the area and witnessed the collision or has dash camera footage is asked to contact the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502.