Traffic light installed at Burnaby crosswalk where student killed 1 year ago

The City of Burnaby has installed a traffic signal at a crosswalk where a 15-year old pedestrian was hit and killed just over a year ago.

Fernanda Girotto, an exchange student from Brazil, was killed at a pedestrian crossing on Cariboo Road near Highway 1 on Jan. 17, 2018. Two men were charged last month in connection with the death.

A cyclist and a pedestrian were injured at the same crosswalk within days of Girotto's death.

The incidents upset many Burnaby residents who had been calling on the city for years to make the crosswalk safer.

Alexander John, an employee who works across the street from the crosswalk at Cariboo Road Christian Church, says he is grateful the city has installed the lights and hopes traffic will slow down.

"The first night I drove there when the light was there I did get a little teary because it was something that eventually happened right in front of you," said John.

Residents complained about intersection

John says he lobbied the city of Burnaby for two years prior to the incidents.

Previously, residents told CBC News the crossing's location combines high speed and poor visibility because drivers must exit the highway, round a corner, and travel up an elevated road before heading south on Cariboo Road towards the crossing.

Initially, City of Burnaby staff said there wasn't enough foot traffic to warrant a traffic light. But Burnaby's city council approved the construction of the pedestrian-activated traffic signal two weeks after Girotto's death.​

Signal operational

Pietro Calendino, a Burnaby councillor and chair of the city's public safety committee, said the fatal incident made the traffic signal a priority, and he's happy it is now operating.

"The hope is that it will prevent any accidents at that crosswalk, but obviously a lot of that depends on motorists behaviour and even pedestrians when they cross — they should always take care."