Reduce speed limits at high collision intersections: Professor

WINNIPEG — Once again, five high traffic areas have been deemed the riskiest to drive through by Manitoba Public Insurance.

The worst intersection is Leila and McPhillips, followed by Kenaston and McGillivray, Kenaston and Grant, Lagimodiere and Regent and Bishop Grandin and St. Mary’s. The list hasn’t changed in 10 years.

READ MORE: 5 worst Winnipeg intersections for crashes

Now a university professor says not enough is being done to make them safer.

“We keep talking about it and keep raising the same issues and now it’s time we come up a broader set of solutions,” said Jino Distasio, Urban Studies Professor at the University of Winnipeg.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We keep talking about it and keep raising the same issues and now it's time we come up a broader set of solutions," said Jino Distasio, Urban Studies Professor at the University of Winnipeg.

Distasio says reducing the speed limit at these intersections could be the answer, similar to school zones.

“We’ve said the lives of children are important enough that you can slow down to 30 in these important areas so if we have five corridors that are so high frequent collision we have to look at the speeds as well,” Distasio said.

At Leila and McPhillips, the most dangerous intersection with 2,326 crashes in the last decade, drivers said they’re not surprised this one made the list.

“I think people just need to slow down,” said one driver.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I think people just need to slow down," said one driver.

“I think maybe just better driver training and awareness,” said another driver.

Awareness, MPI hopes will catch on with heightened police presence at these troubled intersections, new warning signs and billboards telling drivers to slow down.

“It’s got to go beyond a quick billboard,” Distasio said. “That’s not going to solve the problem here.”

After the pilot project is complete in a year, we’ll see if it’s made a difference.