Cat’s eyes and rumble strips on the way, but no timeline for median barriers on Red Hill Valley Parkway

There is no timeline for installing median barriers as a safety measure along the Red Hill Valley Parkway (RHVP), but other enhancements are on the way.

Members of Hamilton’s public works committee have been told that current plans are to resurface the Parkway starting this year and finishing in 2019, after which the Lincoln Expressway (LINC) will be resurfaced in 2020/2021.

Martin White, Hamilton’s manager of traffic operations, adds that rumble strips and “cat’s eyes” pavement markings will be installed along the full 18-kilometre length of the two busy roadways as the work is completed.

In recent years, the families of crash victims have appealed with the city to install median barriers along the Parkway in a bid to prevent “crossover crashes” where vehicles travel through the median and into the opposite lanes.

White stresses that while there have been six deadly “crossover crashes” over the past decade, there’s no evidence that barriers would reduce the overall number of collisions.

He also notes that the estimated cost of installing centre barriers is $5- to $7 million, adding that would be a “lost cost” if done ahead of an expected widening of the RHVP in the future.

White is also disputing the perception that the RHVP/LINC are more dangerous than comparable highways.

He says they have been the scene of approximately 1,500 collisions since 2008, a rate that is “substantially better” than Highway 406 in Niagara Region and Highway 7/8 in Southwestern Ontario.

White’s report also states that the “primary root cause” of collisions is tied to driver behaviour including “speeding, aggressive and distracted driving.”