signals FOR every rule there is an exception and for every traffic law there is an exceptional mis- conception. . Case in point, the inter- section of East Keith Road and St. Georges Avenue in North Vancouver City. The -_east- and westbound lanes .along Keith Road are split by a garden-like boulevard which serves a dual purpose: enhancing che esthetics and ‘effectively acting as a big huge yellow dividing line (except it’s green) for a fair stretch. Unfortunately this divider . has caused considerable diff- culties for those crossing Keith at intersections such as St. Georges. Several years ago people ». traveling north and south on St. Georges were faced with a :.. stop sign at Keith Road and : had to wait for all traffic in _ the area to clear before pro- ceeding. However, as North Van’s population grew so did _ its traffic density and more and more drivers were having problems deciding, how to deal with a car rurning left ‘ from St. Georges and onto Keiriy Road. «In effect, the left-rurners always had to yield to any --. Velnicle on their right, which mieant any car already travel- ‘ang, along Keith Road. One of "two rules in the mighty : Rotor Vehicle Act (MVA) - | applied (stop signs or car-on- Friday, January 24, 1997 — North Shore News — 25 can rt NEWS photo Mike Wakefield FOLKS on the North Shore love the esthetic appeal of wide boulevards and sweeping views, but in some cases, like the intersection at Keith Road and St. Georges St. ir: North Vancouver (above), boulevards make life difficult for drivers. The City has made changes to the signage at the intersectien, but as treffic columnist Shaun Conlin found out recently, drivers still have trouble negotiating the tricky crossroads. right laws). Since a car turn- ing left in the boulevard sec- tion was considered “in the intersection” then anyone at a stop sign and faced with this left-rurner could not proceed until the oncoming car turned. Problems started when drivers began to assume (and still do to this day) that a left- turner always must yield to oncoming traffic, which sim- ply isn’t the case. Section 176 of the MVA tells left-turners to yield to traffic already in the intersection and to approaching traffic. A stopped car is not an “approaching car” and a car at a stop sign has to yield to everything, anyway. Naturally, this misunder- standing has led to a number of accidents. The powers that be decid- ed that “yield” signs should be erected in the centre boulevard section of St. Georges, but this on'y caused more confusion (actually, stop signs were tried for a time back in the crazy °70s, but more on those in a moment). All the yield sign was doing was reinforcing the left-turners’ required yield to cars on Keith, bur the drivers at the stop sign were — and forever will be —- required to wait for all traffic to clear. Some drivers assumed thar the new yield signs meant that left-rurners had to yield Photo submitted Catch it while you can the right of way to both Keith Road and oncoming vehicles. Other drivers did not assume this and crashes continued. (People will argue yield-sign vs. stop-sign rules until they are blue in the face. Iam one of them and I wel- come all comers.) Finaliy the City said enough is enough and, with the help of ICBC, commis- sioned a study into the prob- lem. In September 1990, infrastructure consultants at Hamilton Associates recom- mended a viable solution to the conflict occurring at the Keith Road/St. Georges intersection. New stop signs replaced the old yield signs which replaced old stop signs which replaced the lack of signs. In effect, Keith Road today is really two streets and the St. Georges crossing con- Stitutes two intersections gov- erned by two two-way-stops. The St. Andrews and Keith Road intersection has since followed suit. (West Keith Road intersections are still of the yield vs. stop variety where it is divided by a boulevard, but with berter hove complicated our irre. struc- ture somewhat (such an inter- section wouldn’t get off the drawing board these days), this was the best solution; crashes at the location are Til FEB on selected carpets. much less common. Unfortunately, many dri- vers don’t understand left turn right-of-way Jaws at a two-way-stop ... that is a col- umn unto itself. But for now, be safe. CORRECTION A description under a pho- tograph that accompanied last week’s Signals column contained inaccurate infor- mation. The wheelchair van that was involved in an accident in December at Mahon Avenue and 15th Street in North Vancouver was not a HandyDart Van. 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