"Bricks" placed in Vancouver to help pedestrians safely use a crosswalk

Vision Zero Vancouver

A pedestrian holding a brick in their hand as they cross the road is sure to attract the attention of drivers. That is why a group of pedestrian safety advocates in Vancouver rolled out a new pilot project, the “Pedestrian Brick Crossing System.”

As the Vision Zero Vancouver team waits for safer infrastructure for pedestrians, it’s hung two baskets on opposite sides of the busy Granville Island crosswalk.

“Drivers frequently ignore people trying to get across, and the four lanes of traffic plus the large pillars create a lot of blind spots,” Vision Zero told Daily Hive.

Despite raising the issue to the City of Vancouver “all they could promise was that they would replace the speed limit signs, which is next to nothing.”

“This unpleasant pedestrian experience, besides being unsafe, also makes people less likely to want to come walk or cycle down to the island. That causes many to choose to drive instead, creating a vicious cycle.”

“We wanted to show that there are real things we can do, even if it’s just waving around a brick,” the group continued.

As it turns out, pedestrians holding “bricks” instil quite a bit of fear in drivers worried about potential damage to their vehicles.

Be seen, grab a brick!
🧱
1. GRAB
2. LOOK
3. WAVE
4. CROSS pic.twitter.com/EEWJvNrUui

— VisionZeroVancouver (@VisionZeroYVR) March 31, 2024

“Suddenly they have no problem seeing and stopping for pedestrians!” advocates said.

“Of course, we were only using foam bricks, but they proved very effective.”

Vision Zero Vancouver

The pedestrian brick is an evolution of the pedestrian flags found in areas like West Vancouver and another west end downtown.

However, the group of pedestrian safety advocates explain that waving a red flag while crossing an intersection to get drivers’ attention “misses the point.”

“When drivers fail to yield for pedestrians, it’s not because they can’t see them, it’s because they don’t care.”

Additionally, Vision Zero said people also often find the flags “demeaning and humiliating” to use.

According to data from ICBC, about seven pedestrians are hit by drivers across the Lower Mainland daily and about 30 are killed each year.

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Despite troubling data, advocates say pedestrian safety is an issue in Vancouver that “doesn’t get nearly enough attention or action from our local leaders.”

To improve the roads in the long run, the group is advocating for officials to narrow the road at Granville Island from two lanes in each direction to one.

“There’s no need for two lanes of traffic going onto the island; it’s all backed up with people looking for parking anyway,” it said. “This would allow the city to narrow the crossing, thus making it a shorter cross distance and removing the blind spots caused by cars travelling beside each other.”

Vision Zero said it would also like to see the crossing turned into a raised crosswalk.

“And in the bigger picture, we’d love to see Granville Island itself made more pedestrian friendly,” it added.

“Right now it’s full of cars, with little space to walk around or gather. In our ideal world, it would have parking only those with accessibility challenges, a frequent accessible transit shuttles going into the island, and we’d even bring back the Olympic-era streetcar connecting Olympic Village Canada Line station to the island.”

I love hanging out at Granville Island there's so much to see and do pic.twitter.com/2EI2pA9Aa4

— Mihai Cirstea (@Mihai_Cirstea_) March 30, 2024

In the meantime, the pedestrian brick pilot project will be available for folks walking along the Granville Island crosswalk.

“We do anticipate that someone will take them down at some point but we’ll see how it plays out!”