Traffic light collector is on mission to make N.S. safer, one intersection at a time

In the last few years, crossing the street has become more and more dangerous, according to the province’s traffic signal inspector, Kyle Miller.

But Miller is on a mission to improve crosswalk safety by installing new light “phases” at intersections across the province, one of which is in Lower Sackville.

“The cars will get their green first, and once the green light turns red, the walk sign will come up, in this direction initially,” said Miller as he pointed across Beaver Bank Road. Three seconds later, he continued, the lights will allow pedestrians to cross Old Sackville Road. Pedestrians can then cross cross in all four directions.

They’re called “exclusive pedestrian phases,” also known as “all red phases,” which as the name indicates, are intersections where all vehicles get a red light so that pedestrians can cross more safely, without fear of cars turning into them.

Last year, Miller started installing exclusive pedestrian phases in different areas around the province.

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“We started with those ‘Leading Pedestrian Intervals,’” Miller said. “But of course, with the long crossings, four or five lanes, with people who tend to walk a lot slower or may have mobility issues, there are cars that are still kind of squeak past them as they’re trying to finish their crossing.”

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Leading Pedestrian Intervals, or LPIs, are something blind pedestrian advocate Milena Kahzanavicius said she wants to see removed, “until we get rid of the right-hand turn on a red.”

“Because what happens is you get a five second go-ahead for the pedestrian, and the driver is looking to the left …and they’re gunning it.”

Kahzanavicius said she has almost been hit four times this year by cars making turns at LPI intersections.

But with 12 exclusive pedestrian phases installed province-wide, Miller now has plans to expand the project.

Kahzanavicius has never encountered an exclusive pedestrian phase herself, but as a member of the blind and partially sighted community, she has questions.

“Is each of these crossings when all vehicles are stopped going to have an audible pedestrian signal?” she asked. “If you are running audible pedestrian signals in all directions at the same time, that will be confusing as well. So, what we need is strong consultation.”

They say to never bring your work home with you, but for Miller, that’s out of the question. As a traffic light enthusiast, Miller’s basement is home to his collection — a room full of lights, blinking on and off.

“Being a little kid, I was always kind of fascinated — you know, blinking lights. Red, yellow, green — it’s exciting,” said Miller, adding that he always wanted to know how things worked.

“One day one of my friends said, ‘Hey Kyle, there’s a traffic light for sale on Kijiji, you should go buy it,’ and then I did,” he recalled. “That was 12 years ago and then it’s evolved into this.”

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Miller has collected lights from all over Canada and the United States. He even has a few from the U.K. and France.

“I program all the controllers myself,” Miller said. “I made a custom program just for this basement.”

Before Miller joined the Department of Public Works, he said he has always had a passion for crosswalk safety.

“At the same time, I just love collecting lights,” he said. “Vintage lights, new lights, unique lights. … Anything that I can get my hands on that’s weird and different, I want it.”

Ever since the pandemic, Miller said the data has shown an increase in collisions and dangerous driving.

“There seems to be a lot more driver aggression, and now seems more important than ever to roll out these protective movements,” he said.

And it’s something Halifax Regional Municipality is looking into as well.

“They’re wondering if it’s a pilot project the province is doing, and if so, they would love to glean the data from that pilot project because safety is a huge consideration, but so is traffic management,” said Trish Purdy, councillor for district four. “So, these things have to be looked at together”

A municipal committee is awaiting data for the province on the efficacy of exclusive pedestrian phases before taking next steps.