Morinville should invest $310,000 within three years to make its streets safer to cross, a new report recommends.
Morinville town council received the results of the pedestrian crossing review during its April 19 committee of the whole meeting.
The review stems from a recommendation from the 2020 transportation master plan to assess every pedestrian crossing in town using the Transportation Association of Canada’s (TAC) guidelines so as to encourage more people to walk and bike in the community.
The review itself examined conditions at Morinville’s 47 marked pedestrian crossings last May through June, said Catherine Oberg of Bunt and Associated Engineering (which did the review). Each crossing was evaluated based on traffic and pedestrian volumes, speed limit, road width, and other factors to determine if it should be removed, maintained, or improved.
Oberg said the review was done while Morinville students were attending school in person and accounted for traffic impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Crossing queries
The review found that most of the town’s crossings did not have enough pedestrian traffic to justify protective measures such crosswalk signs under TAC guidelines, council heard. The 100th Avenue/98A crossing had zebra stripe road markings and yellow posts, for example, but zero pedestrians observed using it.
Oberg noted that the review found protective measures could still be justified at many crossings because they are needed for connectivity. The review could not justify such measures at 19 sites (including the 100th Avenue/98A crossing) and called for their signs, pavement markings, and curb ramps to be removed.
Coun. Ray White said removing crosswalks could encourage more people to jaywalk and make Morinville less walkable.
“You’re taking away the ability of people to have options to cross the road.”
You don’t want to flood your community with crosswalks lest drivers see them as unnecessary and ignore them, Oberg explained. Instead, Morinville should focus its resources at crossings which are in high demand and important for connectivity. Pedestrians can still cross the road at any legal crossing (such as a street corner) with or without a crosswalk, she added.
“If you’re comfortable doing it, you can still do it,” she said.
While it had been cited as a dangerous intersection by many councillors, Oberg said the four-way stop at Grandin Drive and 100th Avenue is not yet busy enough to justify putting in traffic lights. Lights could be justified within two to five years if traffic rates continue to climb, so she advised council to keep an eye on this intersection.
“It’s not a ‘no,’ it’s a ‘not quite yet,’” Oberg said of signals.
The review also called on the Town to block the eastbound and westbound turning lanes at that four-way stop to make it less complicated for drivers.
The price of safety
The review called for 28 of the town’s crossings to be maintained or upgraded with measures such as bigger signs, zebra stripe markings, curb extensions, and signpost-mounted crosswalk lights.
Enforcement services supervisor William Norton told council these upgrades would cost about $310,000, including $180,000 for curb extensions and $105,600 for crosswalk lights. He recommended rolling out these changes over three years to give administration more time to evaluate the effects of the town’s existing curb extensions on traffic.
Coun. Stephen Dafoe mused about using some of the Town’s photo radar money (which is set aside for traffic safety measures) to pay for the review’s recommendations.
Council referred the review’s implementation plan to a future regular meeting for debate.
