Dear Editor,
The woman killed crossing Lougheed Highway near Laity Street in Maple Ridge this week did not die because of a momentary mistake or unfortunate timing.
[Re: VIDEO – Woman killed crossing Lougheed Highway early this morning, Jan. 5, www.mapleridgenews.com]
She died because Lougheed Highway is a road that has been designed in ways that put human lives last.
I am a volunteer with Vision Zero Vancouver, and for years we have warned that this corridor is deadly to people on foot.
Multiple pedestrians have been killed along this same stretch in recent years. When the same outcome keeps repeating in the same place, it is no longer simply a tragedy, but a failure of leadership.
Lougheed is a wide, high-speed road cutting through residential neighbourhoods, near homes, businesses, and a hospital.
Crossings are spaced so far apart that people are effectively punished for trying to walk where they live.
Drivers routinely travel well above posted speed limits, because the road invites them to and enforcement is nonexistent. The results are predictable.
No further study is required to understand what is happening on Lougheed.
The danger is obvious, the outcomes are consistent, and the solutions have been known for years. Continuing to delay action is a choice with lethal consequences.
We know what works: Lower speeds. Frequent, safe crossings. Removing slip lanes that prioritize seconds of driver convenience over human life. Automated speed enforcement. Designing the street for the people who live there, not just the vehicles passing through.
While Lougheed Highway is under provincial jurisdiction, the City of Maple Ridge is not powerless.
Council can formally and repeatedly demand changes, refuse to accept the status quo, and use every tool available — from traffic calming on adjacent streets to public pressure and intergovernmental advocacy — to prioritize lives.
Local residents also have a role to play.
This road has killed too many people for silence to be acceptable.
Residents can contact their MLA, the Minister of Transportation, and City council, show up to council meetings, and demand action.
Change only happens when the public refuses to let governments ignore a problem.
The province has the authority to act, and it has repeatedly chosen not to.
How many more people will be killed on this road before safety is treated as non-negotiable?
This most recent death was not unavoidable; it was by design.
Rhiannon Fox, Vision Zero Vancouver
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