Bright sun, lane closure on road when man was struck

Concerns are being raised about conditions on Fourth Avenue in Whitehorse Wednesday morning when a pedestrian was hit by a vehicle.

The pedestrian, a 69-year-old man, later died in hospital.

Police have released no details about the incident in front of the Tags store but people are about talking about a lane closure by city crews in the same area.

City officials say the crew was on a break at the time of the incident.

Whitehorse resident Fawn Fritzen says she is making no connection between the city crew and the death, but says bright sunlight was affecting drivers' ability to see what was happening on the road that morning.

Fritzen says she didn't know the city crew was working were there until a vehicle in front of her hit a "crews at work" sign.

"I was already among them before I actually saw them, so I hadn't slowed down, the truck in front of me hadn't slowed down," she said. "So I felt already at that point there was quite a dangerous situation."

Fritzen has written a letter to the city about the situation that morning. She's asking that they put warning pylons on the street farther out from the work site to reduce the risk to workers.

Whitehorse's acting city manager Brian Crist says the road crew followed proper safety procedures.

He says the city reviewed what happened after the accident.

"We did do an entire debrief, and just looked at our lane closure protocols," he said. "When we reviewed all the protocols in relation to all the regulatory standards, everything was done according to these standards."

Crist said the driver who hit the pedestrian had his back to the sun, so that should not have been a big factor, but people driving into the sun have to take extra precautions if they can't see.

Crist added that if turns out the city should have done something differently, that will be looked at.​