Residents call on city to improve 'nightmare' West End intersection

People living Vancouver’s West End are calling on the city to do something about a “nightmare” intersection that residents say has been the scene of numerous accidents and near-accidents.

In late January 2024, Dan Crich was in his apartment next to the Nelson Street and Jervis Street intersection when he saw someone on an electric scooter get hit by a car.

“It was very dark, it was raining that night and the lighting specifically … is very poor and that is where he was hit,” he said.

It’s not the first accident neighbours have seen.

He said he’s seen many people nearly hit by cars, including himself and his dog. He’s started a petition online, calling for the city to make the Nelson and Jervis intersection safer for everyone.

Jarryd Jaeger also lives in an apartment next to the intersection, and signed the petition.

“I skate a lot on my inline skates, and I’ll be rolling through the intersection because I’ve got the right of way and there'll be cars that don't stop or don't even look,” Jaeger said.

“Even when I’m watching from my balcony, multiple times a day I hear the honks, I look out and of course it's this one.”

Some neighbours CTV News spoke with said walking through the intersection is daunting, and for drivers, it’s just as bad.

Alison, who drives through the intersection quite often for her job, said navigating the intersection is a “nightmare.”

“It is hard for me to see pedestrians crossing sometimes, it's hard,” she said.

Some residents describe the traffic at the intersection as a “highway.”

“I think a lot of traffic has been routed through this intersection,” said Robert Cifarelli, who also signed the petition.

“It's a really busy intersection and no changes have been made to it, so it's just really getting dangerous for pedestrians.”

In an email to CTV News, the City of Vancouver said “staff have reviewed this intersection and are planning updates to the signage and pavement markings.”

The city pointed to data from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) and that “the collision rate was comparable to similar intersections in the city.” Between 2018 and 2022 there were 17 collisions reported at the intersection.

Crich said he believes the number of accidents, or near-accidents, is higher.

The city added in the last six months it’s “upgraded the lighting to LED fixtures and adjusted the height of the existing signage to improve visibility.”

But residents like Crich want more.

“There's a school up the street, a school down the street, there's elderly people here, we're basically waiting for a disaster to happen in order for anything to happen,” he said.

He said he wants the city to put in more lights, and install infrastructure such as pedestrian-activated crosswalks to slow drivers down.

As of Monday, more than 500 people had signed the online petition.