A 5km stretch of Lougheed Highway has claimed 5 pedestrian lives since December 2022.
On December 27, 2022, a pedestrian was hit and killed by a driver in the 20300 block of Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge.
Two months later, a few blocks west, another pedestrian was killed crossing Lougheed. The police made sure to note that the man was “wearing dark clothing.” We tweeted about this at the time, explaining the real reasons it happened, and stating clearly that this will happen again.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long. Just two months later, on a part of Lougheed between where the previous two incidents occurred, a driver lost control of their vehicle and killed another pedestrian.
Before the end of that year, this one stretch of Lougheed had produced three dead pedestrians, one cyclist with life-altering injuries (at the same site as the April fatality), and three other injured pedestrians. We once again asked for action, because we knew this story was going to keep repeating itself.
Nothing happened. Then in June of this year, Lougheed claimed yet another innocent life, when a pedestrian was hit and killed at Lougheed and Harris Road. We raised the alarm again; and were again ignored.
Yesterday (August 31 2025), this stretch of Lougheed Highway saw its 5th pedestrian fatality in recent memory, at the exact same intersection as the December 2022 incident at the top of this article. Enough is enough.
What makes this stretch so dangerous?
Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows is a very wide road that runs through primarily residential neighbourhoods.
Although on most of the street the speed limit is 50-60km/h, it’s built for speed. When we took a radar gun to the location of one of these incidents, we didn’t see a single driver going the limit. The average speed was closer to 80km/h.
Next, it’s nearly impassable. There are entire stretches of the road where crosswalks are more than 1km apart. If you’re in the middle of one of these “crosswalk deserts,” it can be a fifteen minute walk to simply cross the street. Look how residential this area is. It’s not acceptable.
Lougheed’s size, speed, and lack of crossings create a vicious cycle. No one feels comfortable walking or cycling in the area, so they drive instead. This leads to more traffic, perpetuating the sentiment that we need to keep Lougheed wide and fast to keep all that traffic moving. Lougheed acts as a giant, deadly canyon cutting neighbourhoods in half. And for what? Driver convenience, nothing more.
What can we do about it?
1) Take the “Highway” out of the name. This may seem silly, but Surrey renamed King George Highway to King George Boulevard for this exact reason. The word highway implies very fast speeds with few reasons to stop, and this image drives behaviour. Lougheed isn’t a highway. It’s a street surrounded by homes, businesses, daycares, schools, and parks.
2) Immediately reduce the speed limit. Lougheed alternates between 50km/h and 60km/h speed limits in this area (notably, it’s 60km/h at the site of several of these fatalities). The speed limit must be reduced to 50km/h in non-residential areas, and 40km/h or 30km/h in highly residential areas. Speed is the number one factor in determining whether a pedestrian survives a collision.
3) Significantly increase the number of crossings. No one should face the choice between walking fifteen minutes or running across four to six lanes of high speed traffic simply to get to the other side of the street from where they live. Yes, this might slow traffic a bit. It’ll also keep people alive.
4) Get rid of the slip lanes. These are built to make it faster for drivers to turn right, but they’re extremely dangerous for pedestrians. Someone’s life is not worth a 5 second time savings.
5) Add automated speed and red light camera enforcement along the entire stretch. These are cost-effective interventions that are proven to save lives.
6) Add protected active transport lanes along the entire street. Burnaby is doing this along their portion of Lougheed. The street is flat, and has space to add protected lanes. It’s full of homes, shops, and places to visit. The only reason people don’t bike on it now is because it’s a death trap. Build these lanes, and people will get out of their cars and use them.
Some people might think these changes are radical non-starters. To us, someone being killed every few months is a non-starter. Let’s design the street for safety first, and vehicle throughput second. And the problem is not just fatal crashes: according to ICBC, 1,794 people have been injured on Lougheed Highway in Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge between 2021-2024. That’s almost exactly one person per day, every single day.
We are calling on the Province (as the stewards of Lougheed Highway) to immediately implement these changes, and the cities of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows to join this call to action. Five fatalities on one stretch of road is not a coincidence. It’s a direct product of how we’ve built this road, and we’re tired of saying that it will happen again. If our leaders know this, and allow it to happen anyway, the blood is on their hands.
How can you help?
Lougheed Highway is under the jurisdiction of the Province. Please email the Premier, Minister of Transportation, and local MLA and let them know how you feel. You can use facts on this page, and you can share your personal experiences. Ask them how many deaths along this stretch they think are acceptable over the next 5 years. Remind them that this is their responsibility.
Premier David Eby: premier@gov.bc.ca
Minister of Transportation Mike Farnworth: Mike.Farnworth.MLA@leg.bc.ca; Tran.Webmaster@gov.bc.ca
Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows MLA Lisa Beare: Lisa.Beare.MLA@leg.bc.ca
You can also email the mayors and councils of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. Although the municipalities can’t directly change Lougheed Highway, they should at the bare minimum join the fight for change.
Maple Ridge Mayor & Council: druimy@mapleridge.ca; kcarreras@mapleridge.ca; odozie@mapleridge.ca; jdueck@mapleridge.ca; sschiller@mapleridge.ca; jtan@mapleridge.ca
Pitt Meadows Mayor & Council can all be emailed at once here: council@pittmeadows.ca
We are begging our elected leaders to act. We don’t want to have to make this post again.
Vision Zero Vancouver 