I beg to differ with Coun. Scott Anderson that “the grade of that road (Hospital Hill) is irrelevant” (to quote his statement) when trying to stop a highway tractor pulling two trailers, empty or loaded, in the best of conditions, let alone during winter conditions.
As soon as a pedestrian controlled device is installed, a lot of pedestrians are going to assume they have the right of way because the light is flashing in their favour.
But Mother Nature and the forces of gravity do not abide by a flashing light when trying to stop any vehicle.
Therefore, it will not be very long before there will be a very serious pedestrian/vehicle incident at the location in question.
Fortunately, this will be close enough to the emergency ward at Vernon Jubilee Hospital that help won’t have to wait for an ambulance to respond to the emergency.
On the other angle of the hill, if a semi-unit going up the hill has to stop for the pedestrian light in adverse winter conditions and has trouble getting moving again, it is almost certain the rig will jackknife, blocking both lanes of traffic going up Hospital Hill.
That is blocking all south bound traffic, including emergency vehicles going to the hospital.
Coun. Anderson, if you need some serious convincing, might I suggest you enlist a trucker with an empty set of B-train trailers and enlist the guys from the fire hall to spray a light film of water on part of said hill, and then have the truck make a panic stop, while traveling down the hill.
I am quite certain you, and many other people, will change your demands for a pedestrian controlled device, at this location.
The only safe way to get pedestrians to the other side of Highway 97 is to separate the pedestrian traffic from the vehicle traffic with a pedestrian overpass.
David Lawrence
Coldstream