Worst Intersection in Kelowna

[stevemic]

Turning left on Union onto Valley is like playing Russian Roulette! I would be interested in knowing the accident rate there! This is a design issue as vehicles travelling northbound on Valley are not visible from the Union Stop Sign

Isnt that a 3 way stop?
they should be stopping anyway so you shouldnt have an issue

[Nailbender]

Yes, there is a 3-way stop at Union and Valley. It has been in place for some time now.

[Grandan]

Turning left on Union onto Valley is like playing Russian Roulette! I would be interested in knowing the accident rate there! This is a design issue as vehicles travelling northbound on Valley are not visible from the Union Stop Sign

Since they put in a 3 way stop at Union and Valley it has improved access. Yes, it was a nightmare getting onto Valley from Union due to poor sight distances caused by the big retaining wall they built a few years back. It is now the best it's ever been.

[Grandan]

So what was the point of the article? I am confused. I read with interest about all the issues and sat nodding my head in agreement but when i reached the end of the article i was expecting some update on what changes are going to be made, where and when and at what cost but nothing, nadda, zero!
So we do a study, we report the findings just to let everyone know which intersections to avoid until the next study???

It is a cautionary tale. You can't fix stupid no matter how many times you go back to the drawing board. The problem is that people make poor decisions that save them milliseconds but can cost their lives. Drivers are not paying attention, they develop bad habits such as running reds or continuing to turn left long after the advanced green has died. There is also the factor that you have drivers new to Kelowna or are just visiting.
I cannot imagine what you could possibly do to an intersection to fix poor driving habits.

[daveandanne]

I remember that sad story and she was caught between the traffic light post. This is never going to stop unless someone in upper management [Government] looks at this disaster and decides that this is serious business. The obvious solution is to ban left turns period as they interfere with the flow of through traffic and the yellow light runners get a ticket as well as the ones turning before it is safe to. Then move the HOV lane into the left, fast lane and take it out of the Bus, Driveway and Garbage pickup lane for modern steady flow of blood through the main [Aorta] artery and presto much more volume moving with less interruption and also more sensible results. Then in memory of the unfortunate Death of the young Woman move the Death Islands and their crosswalk buttons to a safe place near the sidewalks and put Bollards [Two foot round heavy pipes] there to protect innocent people from being hit by careening vehicles. I know this costs money so the simple answer to that is do it for free. Otherwise build tunnels for the people to cross the Highway in safety even in the middle of the long city blocks. We have that problem over here on the Westbank side of the pond and the speed on the Highway is 80 Kmph with semis and heavy trucks on snowy and slippery days going by the School Children standing three feet away on the Death Islands. The flimsy hand rail on the Island at Daimler road has been taken out twice and the traffic light post has also been taken out, or hit at least two or more times on both sides of the intersection. This is not a good situation here or there. If this cannot be corrected then we must ban people from crossing the roads to shop or go to Schools. That is cheaper than spending money to fix this problem. This answers the question [why did the chicken cross the road?] the answer is it did not want to die waiting on a Death Island.

[Ken7]

I'd suggest all of them that have lights. Many people here don't know what each light means. I've never seen as many people disobey traffic lights in any other North American City.

Further never as many roll overs where maximum speed is 60 km/ hm.

I actually almost witnessed a fellow operation a Black Chevy last week at Glenmore and Kane Rd. He accelerated heavily making a left hand turn, his vehicle wheels actually came off the ground on the left rear. Oh was I hoping he'd roll, I'd been a perfect witness and would have waited for the Police to arrive.