British Columbia

Vancouver's worst intersection for collisions is getting a makeover

The City of Vancouver is planning major renovations to SE Marine Drive and Knight Street — the city's highest collision intersection.

City of Vancouver will carry out major renovations to SE Marine Drive and Knight Street

The City of Vancouver plans to upgrade the intersection at Knight Street and Marine Drive. (City of Vancouver)

The City of Vancouver is carrying out major renovations to SE Marine Drive and Knight Street — the city's highest collision intersection. 

It's looking for public input on how to revamp the intersection — an important thoroughfare used by trucks, public transit, cyclists and pedestrians that connects the city to the area south of the Fraser.

ICBC says there have been 529 injury collisions between 2009 and 2013 at the intersection, 80 per cent of which were rear-enders. In addition to being the worst intersection in Vancouver, it's also the fourth worst intersection in B.C.

The intersection at Knight Street and Marine Drive is heavily used by vehicles including trucks, pedestrians and transit. (Margaret Gallagher/CBC)

Most of the collisions happen at the eastbound off-ramp from the Knight Street Bridge to southeast Marine Drive. 

The city plans to make a number of changes including:

  • A new westbound left-turn lane on SE Marine Drive for vehicles turning north onto Knight Street. 
  • Reconfiguring a traffic signal for the new left-turn lane.
  • Adding a traffic signal for traffic coming off the eastbound off-ramp from the Knight Street Bridge. 
  • New shared pedestrian and bicycle paths on the Knight Street eastbound off-ramp and on the north side of SE Marine Drive.

Construction will take six months to a year, according to Dale Bracewell, the city's branch manager for transportation design. 

"It's anticipated that construction will take place as early as January 2017," he said. 

The deadline to provide feedback is June 28 and can be completed online at vancouver.ca/knightstreetcorridor or via an email to knightstreetcorridor@vancouver.ca or by phoning 311.