Traffic lights come to Nelson
- Greg Nesteroff
- 22 hours ago
- 4 min read
When did traffic lights first appear in West Kootenay? That is, of the red-amber-green variety. I am guessing they showed up in Nelson before anywhere else, although I stand to be corrected.
Traffic lights were first suggested in Nelson almost 13 years before they were installed. The earliest mention I can find is in the Daily News of June 22, 1940 when the local Board of Trade (the old name for the Chamber of Commerce) asked city council to consider them.
But nothing more was heard on the subject until 1947, when council discussed a police commission recommendation to install lights at Baker and Ward, and Baker and Stanley. Later that year, Norman Stibbs made traffic lights part of his unsuccessful election campaign for mayor. (Stibbs had previously served as mayor from 1938-46.)
Incumbent mayor Tom Waters also mentioned it in his campaign material: “Mayor Waters, when an alderman, advocated traffic lights at the important intersections. During the last few weeks the city council has again had the question under study. Prices for the necessary equipment are now being obtained.”
But it took until 1949 for the city’s electrical superintendent to provide quotes of $1,700 and $2,900, although it’s unclear how many intersections that would have covered. “Council members differed as to necessity of a control system,” the Daily News said. No action was taken.
While some council members may have been loath to spend the money because they were unconvinced there was enough traffic to justify lights, the status quo was not free. In those days, the police department provided traffic control during rush hours.
Stibbs was back as mayor in 1950-51 and pushed ahead with traffic lights. The provincial department of public works offered to install them at Baker and Ward if the city would maintain them. The city was also looking at lights for Baker and Stanley and Baker and Josephine. Following four accidents, they also decided to upgrade a caution sign at Baker and Railway to a stop sign.
Still, it took a long while for the lights to finally be put in service, apparently due to the long wait for a crucial cable. Their installation at the corner of Ward and Baker was depicted in the Nelson Daily News of March 24, 1953, as seen below.
Another set of lights went up at the same time at Ward and Vernon, which had not previously been mentioned as a possible location.
The lights were tested on April 20, 1953, and were a big flop.
“Motorists gummed up the demonstration,” the Daily News said. “Drivers completely ignored the red and green signal lights.” (No mention here of the amber light, although the photo above suggests they did exist.)
As a result, city council decided residents needed more time to become accustomed to the new system. Suggestions included using lights only at night for a week. Or placing police officers at the intersections. Or only having flashing signals.
Two more sets of lights were due to be installed as well, probably at Baker and Stanley and Baker and Josephine, although it wasn’t explicitly stated. (Based on other newspaper mentions, the Baker and Stanley lights were definitely in place by 1957 and the ones at Baker and Josephine by 1962.)
The lights officially went into service on May 11, 1953. A few days later, a Daily News columnist with the pen name Betty Blythe wrote that growing pains persisted.
Well we have our traffic lights working at last and it has been rather fun getting used to them in what we still are inclined to think of as little Nelson. Many of us have slid to a stop in the middle of Baker Street and sheepishly dodged back to the curb ... Many an old-timer has absently-mindedly and from long habit crossed against the lights and gone merrily on his way, deep in his own thoughts.
Baker Street seen (top) 1959 or later, (middle) 1967 or earlier, and (bottom), 1969 or later. (Greg Nesteroff collection)
Other lights followed.
In January 1963, four-way flashing lights were installed at the “hazardous corner” of Nelson Avenue and Anderson Street. Two red lights faced Nelson Avenue in each direction, while an amber light faced southbound Anderson Street traffic. A green arrow (Nelson’s first?) allowed motorists heading west on Nelson Avenue to turn right onto Anderson Street without stopping.
These lights were removed around 2020 when the intersection was reconfigured to block off traffic in two directions entirely.
I have no idea when the lights at Nelson Avenue and Behnsen Street in Fairview were installed. Nor do I know when the intersection of Front and Hall had its lights added. But the lights at Front and Poplar must have been added after the Chahko-Mika Mall opened in 1980, since there would have been no reason for them to exist before that. And I know when the lights at Baker and Kootenay were switched on: January 2007.
The four-way stop at Baker and Highway 3A (which also had a four-way flashing red light) was replaced with full traffic lights sometime in the fall of 2023, although I can’t pin down the exact date.
So the exact sequence, including only tri-coloured lights, is roughly as follows:
The locations for the original lights certainly didn’t help their cause. Located under the city street lights and not suspended in the centres of the road as they are today makes it understandable that they were ignored by visual obscurity and yes, habit.