ews & features rrrorcaramexenna THE DAILY VOICE, THURSDAY NOV 29, 2012 7 Pedestrigns cross the street at Langara,. which may be riskier than it seems. A woman who died a, by a car Tuesday night brought pe ~ KEVIN HAMPSON photo ter peing hit estrian fatalities up to 10 for the year. The number is one up from last year. Pedestrian deaths rise to 10 A woman hit Tuesday night brings death toll into double digits By KEVIN HAMPSON 19-year-old woman killed Tues- day night while crossing a street in East Vancouver was the 10th pedestrian killed in the city this year, said Vancouver Police Department spokesman Brian Mon- tague. That is one more death than last year. Two pedestrians were hit by a Ford Explorer travelling east through the Kingsway and Joyce intersection after 11 p.m., police said. The second pedestrian, a 21-year-old man was seriously injured. Montague said the number of pedes- trians killed each year in Vancouver fluctuates from year to year. The num- ber for 2012 is up from the last two years when six and nine people were killed, respectively. But it is down from 20 deaths in 2005. “Why it’s up one year and down an- other I could only speculate,” said Montague. According the VPD’s_ pedestrian safety website, Pedwatch, the average age of pedestrians killed between 2005 and 2010 was 20 to 29 years old. However, seven of the 10 people killed this year were above the age of 50 and five of them were elderly. The woman killed two nights ago was the only person under the age of 40. The website also reported that 56 per cent of the 81 pedestrian fatalities from 2005 to 2011 were due to pedestri- ans’ lack of caution. Among the risky activities cited on the website were crossing the intersec- tion against the signal, not using cross- walks, and using an electronic device while walking. Langara student Jerome Dregas says he doesn’t jaywalk, but a lot of his friends do. “Why risk it, you know? I don’t trust drivers. You never know. They could be distracted with their phones or what not, so I will use a cross walk just to add that safety for myself,” Dregas said. Dregas added that he uses his phone while walking down the street but stops when using a crosswalk. 66 Why risk it, you know? I just don’t trust driv- ers. You never know. LANGARA STUDENT JEROME DREGAS Residents in rage over Cottonwood A beloved community garden on the Downtown Eastside, one of the first community gardens in the area, could be wiped out if an expansion for the road in that area goes through By RYAN BANAGAN proposed road expansion that Ae possibly destroy a majority of the Downtown Eastside’s Cot- tonwood Community Garden has some of the area’s residents outraged. About a dozen employees from Cot- tonwood, as well as other gardeners throughout the city, attended City Council this morning to address the is- sue of long-term security for commu- nity gardens. City Council has directed the stand- ing committee on planning, transporta- tion and environment to study the mo- tion. “Though Vancouver’s future has been looking a lot greener lately, I was dismayed to learn that a city-proposed road expansion is threatening to wipe out Cottonwood,” said the founder of the Cottonwood Community Garden, Oliver Kellhammer. “This garden is one of Vancouver’s best examples of what community gar- dening really is.” Kellhammer and his colleagues stressed to council members how im- portant the garden is to the communi- ty. “These are the original gardens of the community,” said Len Kidd, a gar- dener at Cottonwood. “There is such history at these gar- dens. For the city to even consider pav- ing over parts of them is very upset- ting,” Kidd noted. The street expansion would take place on either Prior or Malkin, paving over significant portions of Cotton- wood, as well as Strathcona communi- ty garden. Not only are these two sites consid- ered to be the oldest and largest com- munity gardens in town, but they also provide food and green space for many Downtown Eastside residents. “Community gardening is a vital way for some low-income families to put food on the table,” said gardener Rachel Jackson. Massey Tunnel expansion consultation underway A ten-year project to give the George Massey Tunnel a major facelift have start- ed. City leaders in Delta and Richmond believe the overhaul will relieve major traffic congestion and ul- timately make commuting easier for travellers BY RICHARD HODGES ect to replace the George Massey Tunnel began yesterday as the provincial government explores op- tions from refurbishing all the way to a new bridge. The Highway 99 crossing between Delta and Richmond is the third most- trafficked route in the Lower Mainland and Delta Mayor Lois Jackson says the tunnel, running at full capacity, is long Geers: on a decade long proj- overdue for a re-haul. “Anyone who believes otherwise simply doesn’t use it,” Jackson said. “The counterflow was our last option but peak demand is just causing mas- sive jams for the single lane. Jackson says 80,000 commuters use the tunnel every day, including large pockets of ferry traffic from the Tsaw- wassen terminal. Christy Clark announced in Septem- ber plans to upgrade the 53-year-old tunnel that the provincial government believes only has 10 to 15 years of life left. “T don’t know what the expansion will look like. I'll leave that to the engi- neers. But I imagine the tunnel being under sea level will complicate expand- ing it,” said Jackson, adding that the consultation process will include an online survey, which Jackson praises for it’s ease of use. “m thankful for the speed and ef- forts of Christy Clark and her govern- ment to tackle this problem. This isn’t just about Delta, this about the entire Lower Mainland.” Ted Townsend, communications manager for the City of Richmond, be- lieves the project is important to re- duce congestion in his city. “In particular in Richmond, the movement of both people and good is critical,” Townsend said. “We have the airport here, we have the major port facilities here. The massey tunnel is a choke point right now and it’s only go- ing to get worse so we are glad that the province is moving forward with start- ing to address that issue.” Lisanne Bowness, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Transportation, said that there will be two phases of consul- tation. The first, running from Nov. 28 to Dec. 19, will help prioritize the goals of the project. The second, which will take place in January and February of 2013, will focus on what replacement options will best fit these needs. Public consultations will be held on Delta on Dec. 1, Richmond on Dee. 4 and 11 and in Surrey on Dec. 6 and 10. CANADA.COM photo Congested traffic through the Massey Tunnel is a com- mon problem that will hopefully be solved by an expan- sion that has started as of yesterday.