The City of Edmonton said an initiative to make roads safer has been successful in its first year.
As part of Vision Zero, 30 intersections received upgrades. Thirteen pedestrian crosswalks were improved, 15 turn-on-the-arrow-only left-turn signals were installed and three right-turn channels were redesigned.
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“We want to add any kind of measure that’s going to improve safety opportunities for people,” Coun. Bev Esslinger said.
“We still have to take personal responsibility. Whether you’re a driver or pedestrian, we need to be aware of our surroundings, but this is going to aid in that.”
The 30 intersections were chosen based on data like a high rate of collisions.
“They’re intersections that have a larger crossing area and high traffic volume and a larger interaction between pedestrians and the vehicles, so they’re higher pedestrian locations as well,” traffic safety engineer Shewkar Ibrahim said.
An intersection at 109 Street and 85 Avenue is one of the areas that has been upgraded. In the past five years, more than 70 collisions had been recorded at the intersection, with two of those involving pedestrians being injured at the crosswalk. This year, the city installed a set of lights, which includes a pedestrian countdown.
Also, 50 new signs that tell drivers their speed were installed and upgrades in 13 school zones were finished.
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So far in 2016, there have been nine pedestrians killed and 218 injured in collisions in Edmonton. There have been 214 total collisions involving pedestrians this year.
The number of collisions and injuries are on track to be significantly less than the previous two years, while pedestrian deaths in 2016 are consistent with 2014 and 2015 so far.
In 2015, there were a total of 316 pedestrian collisions, 317 pedestrian injuries and 12 pedestrian deaths.
In 2014, there were a total of 319 collisions involving pedestrians, 336 pedestrians were injured and nine were killed.
Vision Zero Edmonton’s goal is zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2025.
Funding for the roadway upgrades came from the Traffic Safety Reserve Fund.
The city’s goal for next year is to make roads safer around 24 schools.
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