Last week, eight intersections entered our quarter-finals and four came out. According to you, these four intersections are the worst intersection in each of our sub-regions. Of course, they’re not the only awful intersections, not by a long shot.
People often ask us why we picked these 32 intersections, and the truth is that there are a lot more terrible intersections than we could fit in our bracket—short of doing 40 rounds of voting. But we can demand better from all terrible intersections: let’s take action to demand better road safety from our elected officials, everywhere in Metro Vancouver.
About the Bracket
If you’re joining us for the first time, we asked our followers on Bluesky and Instagram to nominate their least favourite intersections and selected 32 of the scariest, nastiest, most confusing ones throughout the region for a community vote.
Through three rounds of voting, we thinned out the nominees by selecting the worst of the worst from both the City of Vancouver and Metro Vancouver suburbs. One more round to go before we crown the Worst Intersection in Metro Vancouver!
Vancouver: Boundary vs. Kingsway
Not even the trainwreck at the foot of the Arthur Laing Bridge could stop the momentum of Vancouver’s triangular terror intersection, with Main & Kingsway beating Granville & SW Marine by a whopping 69-31%. Main & Kingsway is now the West Side’s official champion*. Meanwhile, the freeway exit at Boundary & Grandview won an equally decisive victory over Broadway & Commercial, sealing its victory as East Van’s champion.
Will Mount Pleasant or Renfrew come out on top? Meet your Vancouver finalists:
- Main St & Kingsway & East 7th Ave: Located directly in front of Mount Pleasant’s library and community centre, this intersection should be the proud landmark welcoming visitors to one of Vancouver’s most fun and lively neighbourhoods. Instead, it is a sad display of danger and disappointment, where drivers get in 98 collisions a year, pedestrians have to cross three separate crosswalks to get across the street, cyclists get detoured two blocks away, and transit riders sit in endless gridlock.
- Boundary Rd & Highway 1 & Grandview Hwy: Vancouver is rightly proud of the fact that it’s one of the only North American cities to stop the displacement of thousands to ram freeways through the heart of the city (though, tragically, not before Hogan’s Alley was lost). Less talked about is the downside of turning many community roads into pseudo-highways into downtown, and this intersection represents one of the worst examples, with six high-traffic lanes of Grandview Highway separating the Renfrew Heights community from its grocery stores.
* Yes, we’re still aware that Main St is technically two blocks into East Van.
Richmond vs. New West
In a close 54-46% vote, Brunette & Braid—the truck route crossing next to a SkyTrain station and major regional bikeway—squeaked past Kensington & Canada Way, the disaster intersection at Deer Lake that’s gridlocked and terrifying to cross even when a Neil Young concert hasn’t let out thousands of fans. Meanwhile, in an intra-Richmond pairing, the airport traffic thunderdome at Three Road & Sea Island trounced the confusing tangle of roads at Garden City & Granville to claim a spot in the final four, 68-32%.
Meet your second pair of finalists, proudly (or maybe shamefully?) representing their hometowns of New West and Richmond:
- Brunette Ave & Braid St, New Westminster: On paper, this intersection has it all. A SkyTrain station with good bus connections. Some brand new apartments a short walk from Sapperton’s shops and restaurants. A (somewhat) protected bike route connecting the Central Valley Greenway to United Blvd, Surrey and Coquitlam. And yet none of this can overcome the awfulness of having to cross a busy urban highway that carries six lanes of traffic between the Pattullo and Highway 1. Throw in the constant flow of trucks out of the Amazon warehouse next door, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
- No. 3 Rd & Sea Island Way & Bridgeport Rd, Richmond: No. 3 Road ought to anchor Richmond City Centre, with its wide sidewalks, separated bike lanes, Canada Line stations, and hundreds of incredible shops and restaurants. Yet, it often fails to live up to its potential at turning Richmond’s downtown core into a destination—with bike lanes so terrifying they send seniors on bikes onto the sidewalk, frequent close calls between turning cars and pedestrians, and an endless parade of speeding white Teslas. All of that—and more—is on display at this intersection, where Three Road is crossed by two provincially-owned highways that prioritize speed and throughput at all costs.
Vision Zero Vancouver 