On March 23, Vancouver radio host Jill Bennett tweeted a photo of a silver SUV stuck atop a yellow concrete road barrier. The vehicle was listing to one side, with its right wheels hanging in the air. Bennett was not castigating the driver for inattention or recklessness. Her ire was directed at the stationary object under the car. “Hey @CityofVancouver this is [the] second incident I’ve seen caused by these useless ‘slow street’ barricades installed last month. They don’t slow down traffic; they cause crashes and traffic chaos,” she wrote.
The yellow barricade on which the unfortunate driver of this SUV was marooned was installed last winter as part of the city’s “Slow Streets” initiative to create designated routes for cyclists and pedestrians. The barricades narrow a two-lane road so that only vehicles going in one direction can drive through at a time, forcing motorists to slow down as they approach an intersection while leaving room for cyclists to pass.
