Whitehorse mulls Second Avenue design changes

The City of Whitehorse is considering a host of changes to Second Avenue in a bid to slow vehicle traffic and increase safety.

A 59-page "corridor study" contains dozens of possible options for reconfiguring the roadway, including new medians, more traffic lights, and, potentially, transit lanes.

At the same time, the city is looking at "short-term, lower cost" changes to make the street safer for pedestrians, including curb extensions, new pedestrian crossing signals and reducing the speed limit from 50 km/h to 40, said Taylor Eshpeter, the city's engineering manager.

"It comes down to what your priorities are and for Second Avenue we heard clearly through [consultations on] the downtown plan andother inputs from the public that safety is a priority," Eshpeter said.

Second Avenue a high-volume street

Nearly 20,000 vehicle trips take place on Second Avenue every day, making it the city's busiest street. The corridor study includes partial figures for pedestrian crossings at various intersections on Second Avenue, ranging from 63 during the busiest hour at Ogilvie Street, to 634 during the busiest hour at Main Street.

The corridor study found there were 10 collisions between vehicles and pedestrians or cyclists between 2012 and 2017 and 127 vehicle collisions during the same period.

There have been several pedestrian deaths over the years on Second Avenue, most recently in November, when 48-year-old Merle Gorgichuk died after being hit by a truck at Elliott Street. The incident spurred calls for change, including by city councillors. Coun. Laura Cabott has called for the city to consider reducing the speed limit on Second Avenue.

"There is some appetite to explore a speed limit reduction to 40 kilometres an hour, and we're going to start looking into that," Eshpeter said. Such a change would a require council to pass a bylaw amendment.

Larger changes to the alignment of Second Avenue wouldn't take place until the city completes a larger transportation master plan later this year.