All-day parking, reduced speed limit now in effect on Strathcona's Prior Street
Traffic calming measures begin on busy street after decades of resident complaints
Traffic should be moving slower in Vancouver's Strathcona neighbourhood now.
Starting Monday, the speed limit at Strathcona Park has been reduced to 30 km/h, electronic message boards alert drivers if they're going too fast, and residents and visitors can now park 24 hours a day along Prior Street.
The measures are all part of a pilot project, approved by city council in October, to slow traffic on Prior Street, which is used by about 25,000 vehicles every day. The plan is to transition Prior from a main thoroughfare, or arterial road, to a collector road, which is a low-to-moderate capacity road intended for residential traffic.
"We know that the speed and the lack of through traffic have created a really dangerous situation for pedestrians and local residents and this is, at long standing, addressing that," said Vancouver city councillor and Strathcona resident Pete Fry on The Early Edition Monday.
Fry said he was inspired to enter politics after the death of a friend, who was hit and killed over a decade ago on Prior Street.
So these are new. If Prior Street is your route in and out of downtown, you’re in for some changes in the morning. No more restrictions on parking + speed limit lowered to 30. We’ll talk about it on <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCEarlyEdition?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CBCEarlyEdition</a> in the morning. <a href="https://t.co/YLTa5JouJV">pic.twitter.com/YLTa5JouJV</a>
—@CBCStephenQuinnThe pilot project will run for one year and Fry said the city will monitor how it impacts traffic patterns and improves livability for people living in the neighbourhood. He said indicators of improved livability include increased pedestrian comfort and better access to Strathcona Park.
"A positive outcome would see better local use of the park and then we will know we got it right," said Fry.
The Strathcona Residents Association (SRA) said it will be discussing further traffic-calming measures with the city in the near future, including bump-outs at intersections bordering the park, repainted crosswalks, improved street lighting and re-routing truck traffic.
"We are pleased and encouraged to see the City of Vancouver take the first active steps to implement council's decision to calm Prior," Dan Jackson, president of the SRA said in a statement.
The moves come as the city tries to reconfigure traffic in anticipation of tearing down the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts leading into the downtown core.
This reconfiguration eventually includes building a train bridge with a new vehicle underpass where Prior becomes Venables Street.
An early city staff plan recommended making Prior Street the main arterial route between East Vancouver and downtown. Many people living in the area considered the plan unsafe and pushed back against that option.