JOHNSON – December hot takes on Christmas Market and traffic issues

DECEMBER HOT TAKES: The new Christmas Market, Victoria and Seymour merge, jaywalking and Aberdeen Mall traffic, and a bit about bumps

Kamloops Christmas Market – at Riverside Park Parking Lot.  Last week we visited this new addition to the Kamloops holiday festival calendar.

First reaction?  Kinda cool.

Sort of looked partly like a Christmas themed Farmers Market / crafty creators’ corner, with a tent for Santa to hang out, a really cool New Gold Christmas tree with a tunnel – great for family pics, a stage, some snacks and hot and cold drinks, and a bunch of scheduled events and musical acts and stuff to do.

All in all, I don’t have a problem with it.  I didn’t even mind the $5 or $7 a person to get in.

That said … as I wandered around, I noticed the expensive little wooden sheds retailers were provided with, and over our heads; the huge volume of multi-coloured, big bulb LED light strings, held up by proper lighting towers, and a bunch of other pricey infrastructure here, like a new digital entrance arch which was on the fritz when I was there … new stuff … what do ya do?

It all looked really good … but I’m curious about the cost of putting it on.

Now to be clear, I ain’t no Grinch, I like me some good old Jimmy Stewart Xmas frivolity as much as the next Santa wanna be … and I don’t have any problem with the City spending on Holiday shenanigans like this, but I also consider the expense, and I like to balance that with the concept of value.

Was it worth it, visitor wise?

One thing about selling tickets online and at the door, is that with a bit of napkin math it’s easy to figure out exactly how many people attended.  I would think it is very reasonable to expect the City to transparently report to the paying public, exactly what this infrastructure … plus City staff install hours cost us in real dollars, and how many people-visits enjoyed the event over the week, and what the door ticket revenue was.

A simple financial accounting – costs vs benefits, the benefit being visits. Anytime in January would be great.

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Look, it’s simple.  If you are driving east on Seymour Street and get just past 9^thAvenue where it merges with Victoria Street … AND YOU ARE IN EITHER LANE HEADING EAST ON SEYMOUR … you are required to look over your left shoulder and yield to traffic on Victoria, even if it means you have to come to a complete stop.

You do not have any right of way.  You have two yield signs, one for each lane … therefore this yield requirement applies to both lanes on Seymour.  It’s a two-lane merge.

That means your left lane has to proceed to the left lane of Victoria, and the right lane has to do the same to the right lane of Victoria.  The signage is there.

As well you will see two green circles with an arrow pointed upwards, at each of these lanes.  In B.C., this sign means you can proceed straight through the intersection, but must still yield to pedestrians or other vehicles that may be lawfully in the intersection.  That means yield to cars on Victoria also travelling east.

I cannot tell you how many times I am traveling along Victoria, in either lane, and someone is in the corresponding lane on Seymour.  They don’t shoulder check or even slow down, and I am forced to lock up the brakes or emergency lane change to get out of their way.

It’s not just crappy poor car drivers, last week I even had to make this emergency lane change because a full-sized dump truck with a full-size dump trailer didn’t yield.  He didn’t even look left.

I’ve even had people honk at me when they are unquestionably in the wrong. It’s not that hard people.

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Pedestrians … ya, ya … I know … you have the right of way … but NOT whilst jaywalking mid-block across major thoroughfares like the Summit Connector or across Columbia between Superstore and Sahali Mall, or at Safeway on Fortune.

Pedestrian right of way is determined as being the law of the land at legal crossings, even if that can be defined in many ways depending on the situation.  A small residential street is one thing, but a busy byway, far from a crossing … is bizarre, wrong and dangerous.

The recent April 2025 ‘Sharing the Road Safely’ Legislation requires that B.C. drivers maintain a minimum distance of one meter when passing pedestrians on roads with a speed limit of 50 km/h or less, and 1.5 meters on roads with a speed limit above 50 km/h.

This new rule works both ways, it makes drivers give adequate distance to pedestrians to ensure their safety, but it also provides drivers with a firm rule of exactly where they CAN drive.

‘nough said.

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Let’s talk about the intersection at Hillside Way, which is the road between Hillside Drive and old Hwy 5A, where the street entrance to the Aberdeen Mall’s parking area is, where Fresh Street Market is today.  This intersection.

This location has no traffic lights except for a pedestrian button-controlled flashing yellow light crossing, which assists the few pedestrians crossing here to catch the bus down the hill.

The traffic control system at this spot needs to evolve to a full vehicle initiated, 4-way red light traffic control intersection.

Why a traffic light is needed here:

1 – A marked increase of the volume of traffic using Hillside Way to get from Hillside Drive, across the #1 overpass to upper Aberdeen, upper Sahali, the Rexall Strip Mall and Rogers Way, as well as the opposite direction back down the hill.

2 – The huge increase of people and cars coming and going these days from this side of the mall.  Rather than just a ‘go to the mall’ experience, it’s now also a ‘stop by the grocery store’ kind of zone … a thing that inherently means a larger demographic of shoppers = more cars.

Today, during moments near rush hour, it can be a real challenge to drive out of the mall at this exit, and make that left turn down Hillside Way.  Not only will it require a long wait for a gap in the flow north and south … there may be a lineup of cars wanting to turn left in front of you, heading into the mall parking lot.

All of this can make trying to turn left a very long and stressful process.

Just wait for the Christmas rush volume.

We need the city to consider a traffic study towards installing a full four-way red light traffic system here, and this is the time of year to gather data towards this.

The next time you’re trying to turn left out of there … think about this.

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Oh … btw:

Now that it has snowed some … and if you remember last month’s column trashing the job that was done with the expansion joint mending and surfacing the Overlander Bridge … think about bouncing over the little transition ramps installed there … on ice.

You get kinda good at reacting left and right to keep the airtime in relative rhythm and landing pointed in your own lane.  Was that the goal?

David Johnson is a Kamloops resident, community volunteer and self described maven of all things Canadian.