Checkerboard crosswalks, Coquitlam: TrafficPatterns at Lougheed Holly & Orchid

Phase one of Coquitlam's decorative crosswalk program: two new checkerboard crosswalks at the Lougheed Holly and Lougheed Orchid intersections, installed using TrafficPatterns™ preformed thermoplastic.

The checkerboard pattern is one of the most recognisable crosswalk designs in Canadian municipal use: high-contrast, legible from distance, and clearly communicating to drivers that a pedestrian crossing is present. When it's installed in thermoplastic rather than paint, it delivers that visibility for years rather than months.

Why checkerboard

There's a reason the checkerboard has stayed in circulation as a crosswalk design: the alternating black and white pattern creates a stronger visual signal than a solid-colour or standard white-stripe crosswalk. At the approach speeds typical of Lougheed-area intersections, drivers register the pattern early, which is exactly what a crosswalk is supposed to accomplish.

The TrafficPatterns installation achieves precise geometric alignment across the full width of the crossing. Each black and white square has to be consistent in size and registration: any drift reads immediately because the pattern reveals it. We work from CAD-referenced layouts to ensure the geometry is correct before the crew touches the asphalt.

What the photograph shows

The lede photograph is one of the two crossings, taken from the curb. White squares alternate with dark ones across the full width of the road, the grid cut in the factory rather than chalked on the day. A narrow red-and-white border runs around the whole field, the yellow tactile plates at each curb ramp line up with the ends of the crossing, and the signal pole at the corner shows how an ordinary suburban intersection reads once the crossing has a pattern.

The system

Square One installs TrafficPatterns under our preformed thermoplastic service. The manufacturer's published facts: preformed thermoplastic sheets, manufactured to specification and heat-fused to the pavement, so there is no spray drift and placement is precise every time; 125 mil thick, with anti-skid elements throughout the sheet; made to the owner's marking standard; and open to traffic within minutes of application. For the busiest arterial crossings the same manufacturer makes TrafficPatternsXD™, a 150-mil aggregate-reinforced sheet that is heated and stamped into the asphalt. The TrafficPatterns product page has the specification, and the crosswalks gallery shows checkerboards beside the rainbow, brick and artist-designed crossings we have installed in the same material.

Phase one of a program

This install was designated as phase one, an indication of a broader program of decorative crosswalk improvements rather than a single feature installation. This is the model we prefer to work within: a municipality that treats crosswalk quality as an ongoing standard rather than a one-off upgrade.

Phase programs allow for consistent product and installation quality across intersections, shared learning from each install, and predictable budgeting over multiple years.

For a municipality building a crosswalk program

• Write the pattern into the marking standard once. Square size, border colour and the material spec then carry from intersection to intersection without redesign.
• Match the material to the traffic. TrafficPatterns suits collector and neighbourhood crossings like these; the XD sheet is the choice where turning buses and trucks scrub the surface.
• Sequence with paving. A crossing goes in best on sound, clean asphalt; where a road is due for resurfacing, mark it after the overlay, not before.

For municipalities developing a multi-intersection crosswalk improvement program, send the intersection list, or a photo and a postal code, to office@squareonepaving.com, call 604-612-6209, or use the contact form. We come out, look, and put a written quote together.