Granville Island crosswalk users urged to pick up a brick

A crosswalk at the en‐ trance to Granville Island in Vancouver has a new feature to help pedestrians cross safely - and it's not what you'd expect.

On either side of the crosswalk, pedestrians are in‐ vited to take a red foam brick that they can wave while crossing, to grab the atten‐ tion of drivers.

"It's meant to be a joke, but it has a serious message underneath," says Mihai Cirstea, a volunteer with Vi‐ sion Zero Vancouver, a nonprofit organization that aims to reduce traffic deaths and injuries in the region.

"It's super effective once [drivers] see you're holding a brick - like, oh yeah, I better stop and let this person go. So it gives the power back, kind of, to the pedestrian."

WATCH | Campaign en‐ courges pedestrians to 'grab a brick':

Cirstea says the April Fool‐ s' Day initiative was inspired by flag crosswalks in other municipalities, where pedes‐ trians wave a flag as they walk through.

Cirstea and Granville Is‐ land residents say more work needs to be done to improve pedestrian safety in the busy area - especially on Anderson Street, the main road into the island - including raised crosswalks and proper sig‐ nage.

Data from the Insurance Corporation of B.C. shows that there were 10 crashes alone at the intersection of Anderson Street and Island Park Walk, which forms part of the seawall, between 2018 and 2022. Five of them resul‐ ted in an injury or fatality.

Claudette Abgrall, who has worked near the en‐ trance of Granville Island for over five years, says she's witnessed cars speeding on the road into the area several times.

"[Drivers] come speeding in sometimes at a ridiculous speed, right in front of the kids' market," she said. "Where are they going in such a hurry?"

Abgrall says she's com‐ plained to the Canada Mort‐ gage and Housing Corpora‐ tion, which manages Granvil‐ le Island, asking them to add speed signage in the area or hire people to facilitate pedestrian crossing on busy days.

Cirstea says Vision Zero Vancouver had previously raised concerns with the city about the Anderson Street crosswalk at the entrance to Granville Island, and sug‐ gested permanent solutions such as reducing the number of traffic lanes and raising the walkway.

He says the organization plans to leave the foam bricks and sign past April Fools' Day, but doubts the city will allow them to re‐ main.

Improving crosswalk safety

Granville Island spokesper‐ son Cate Simpson said the crosswalk at the intersection of the seawall and Anderson Street is on City of Vancouver property, but added there is always concern when safety issues are raised.

"It is my understanding that Granville Island has reached out to the City of Vancouver in the past about improving safety at that par‐ ticular intersection," she said.

In a statement, the City of Vancouver says pedestrian safety is one of its top priori‐ ties and it has worked on im‐ proving visibility at the inter‐ section of Anderson Street and Island Park Walk, "includ‐ ing enhancing the crossing with green paint and zebra markings, and lowering the speed limit from 50 km/h to 30 km/h."

"The support columns for the bridge - located right be‐ side the crosswalk - however, present a challenge with visi‐ bility so we advise motorists to use caution when ap‐ proaching the crossing as they enter Granville Island," the statement added.

The city says it's contin‐ uing to add more safety fea‐ tures to the crossing, includ‐ ing flashing pedestrian walk signals - though these can take up to two years to install due to the design and ap‐ provals process.

"Our safety campaigns focus on all road users being mindful of each other and promoting a culture of safety - not about creating conflict between different road users," it said.