Traffic circle accidents worry Kitsilano residents

Residents along a popular biking lane on Vancouver's West 10th Avenue are concerned traffic circles are causing an increase in accidents between cars and cyclists.

Last week, city council removed the traffic circle at West 10th and Pine after ICBC statistics showed it ranked in the top 10 intersections for car-bike crashes.

"There's not a lot of vision around the corners ... and if a car is coming at a good clip and they are not preparing to stop, and a bike is coming at a good clip ... there's a little too much speed coming to the intersection at the same time," said cyclist Tony Kastelic.

"The difficulty I see is that people hesitate, they don't know who is to go, and so they end up in altercations because of it," said local resident Samantha Banks.

The city replaced the roundabout with a two-way stop, which residents say is much safer.

"When the traffic circle was here, it was really pretty. It made the neighbourhood look nice ... but I think we have to put human lives before the plants because it was a recipe for disaster," said cyclist and local resident Skip Everall.

This week, the city is set to host an open house on a proposed bike lane through Kitsilano, which would run from the Burrard Bridge to Cornwall Avenue and Point Grey Road all the way to Jericho Beach.

The city aims to make it safer for hundreds of cyclists and pedestrians that travel the area each day, along with the 35,000 drivers who use the road too.

A report back to city council about the Cornwall Bike lane is expected this June.