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By Doug Collins

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: Let’s hope Vision Zero has more than Zero Vision

May 20, 2022 | 4:39 AM

THE CITY IS LOOKING FOR FEEDBACK ON ITS NEW TRAFFIC SAFETY PLAN. It’s called Vision Zero and the idea is based on a Swedish plan to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries on the roads.

The goal is lofty, and the City wants to have this all in place by 2039. That seems like a long way away, but there are a lot of pieces to this puzzle and many pieces will take time to plan with the additional burden of paying for it.

If it is to be done right, we have to look at current problems and see how we can fix them. There is a real boondoggle in some areas.

We have to look at potential development regions and work with developers to see how traffic will flow.

As I say, we have created a mess already. Even if we cleaned up that and did nothing else, we would be ahead of the game.

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My pet peeve is the number of areas that require quick lane changes to get where you’re going.

I’m going to stick to just a few in my area. You will no doubt have your own, so feel free to post them.

One of the worst intersections is at McGill and Columbia Street. You all know it. It’s where we have Beattie School, Starbuck’s access, Esso access, and access to Sahali Mall all coming together. If you are coming out of Starbucks and want to turn right, the turn is extremely difficult to make for any vehicle bigger than an e-bike.

If you get that far, there are several lanes of traffic to cross if you want to turn left onto Columbia Street or get across to go to Sahali Centre. If you just want to go across to Esso, you have to get across five lanes of traffic. Twice a day you also have to contend with young children crossing, always a big concern.

Whoever designed that intersection should lose access to his or her pencils, rulers, and computers.

One more.

You are heading up Columbia Street and you want to make a right-hand turn, perhaps to get into the shopping centre, BMO or, again, Starbucks. You may be able to get off Notre Dame, but the access to Starbucks is so close that you are often backed up, unable to move.

Sometimes traffic is backed up right onto Notre Dame Drive. That issue could probably have been avoided with better planning.

I’ve mentioned Starbucks twice now, but this is not their problem, it’s the fault of City of Kamloops planners who have allowed these to be approved.

I can think of at least half a dozen other problems right in the same area, not to mention all the others where you live.

Long story short – don’t waste our time with another survey that will sit on a shelf gathering dust or indeed it will become known as Zero Vision instead of Vision Zero.

I’m Doug Collins and that’s One Man’s Opinion.

Doug Collins has had a wide background in the broadcast industry, having done virtually every type of news and sports broadcasting, including news anchor, sports play-by-play, and editorialist. His “One Man’s Opinion” aired on TV from 1973- 2013. He retired from his management roles in the station in October 2018 but continues to write his column.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.