Up until now, there had been no state law or city ordinance that regulated people standing on traffic islands, but the practice has been deemed dangerous and the Vancouver City Council on Monday voted unanimously to give law enforcement tools to require people move to safety

Paul Valencia
Clark County Today

A person’s death in 2021 has led to a new ordinance in the city of Vancouver that bans people from remaining on traffic islands, medians, and lane dividers that separate lanes of vehicle traffic.

The Vancouver City Council voted unanimously for the amendment to the Vancouver Municipal Code at its council meeting on Monday.

Tyler Chavers, the homeless response program manager for the city and a former Vancouver police officer, gave a presentation in favor of the ordinance.

“I believe it will make Vancouver safer by reducing serious injuries and saving lives,” Chavers said.

He noted that there were currently no state laws nor city ordinances that regulate pedestrian spaces. Police officers could not require a person standing on a traffic island, for example, to move to a safer location.

“We want to provide our law enforcement with tools which will prevent tragedy before they occur,” he said.

The new ordinance does not restrict lawful pedestrian crossing. Walking to an island on the way to the other side of the street, at a series of crosswalks, for example, remains legal. This ordinance is for people who stay in the medians. Examples: A person panhandling, or a person waving a sign to advertise a business. Also, those activities can still be done on sidewalks, but not on the traffic islands or medians in between vehicle lanes.

“The new ordinance provides for early intervention by prohibiting a person from remaining in spaces that are not intended for pedestrian use,” Chavers said.

A city official told Clark County Today that law enforcement would likely give a verbal warning to an offender and explain the new ordinance while requiring the person to move off a traffic island, for example. A habitual offender could be cited.

In 2021, a pedestrian who was standing on a narrow lane divider on Vancouver Mall Drive and Fourth Plain Blvd was struck and killed by a vehicle that had left the roadway. Within an hour of that investigation, witnesses saw another pedestrian standing on the same lane divider.

Since then, city staff were looking into state laws and regulations focused on pedestrian behavior. It was reported that there were no laws preventing such behavior. Feedback at community forums through the years also informed the city council that the practice of people standing on medians was a concern to many drivers. Drivers were reporting more and more near misses.

Councilor Kim Harless said the new ordinance is about prevention, about doing something before another tragedy occurs.

“I really appreciate proactive approaches,” she said.

The council voted unanimously to approve: Ordinance Amending Vancouver Municipal Code (VMC) Section 7.04.020 “Pedestrian Interference.”

The revised language clarifies that a person would only violate the proposed pedestrian interference regulation if he or she intentionally “occupies and remains upon a traffic median, traffic island, or roadway divider that separates lanes of travel of a public street or highway at a location that is not designated or marked for pedestrian crossing.”

A person would not violate the proposed ordinance unless they intentionally remained in the area separating lanes of travel at a location not designated or marked for pedestrian crossing.