By Kevin Ma
It's hard not to notice the city's new crosswalks at Lennox and Liberton. With their thick white lines and fluorescent yellow colour, they just scream, "Look at me!" and are easily visible from 100 paces away.
City crews are testing a new type of crosswalk this fall at five intersections in order to see if it makes it safer for people to cross the street. The super-visible designs were installed this week.
St. Albert had six traffic fatalities in 2013 and one last year, so the city has to do everything it can to improve traffic safety, says Mayor Nolan Crouse.
"The objective of a crosswalk stripe is to warn the driver that there is officially a crosswalk (there) and these new ones increase the warning level."
The new crosswalks use fat zebra-style white stripes instead of two parallel lines to mark out the walk zone, and feature a fluorescent yellow background similar to that seen on pedestrian crossing signs. Each costs about $5,500, says city transportation manager Dean Schick.
"Improving visibility and awareness of pedestrian crossings is a key in addressing driver behaviour," he says.
By making crosswalks stand out, drivers should be more aware of their presence and have more time to react and slow down.
"These locations should stand out against the typical roadway background during all types of road conditions," Schick says, even in winter (provided the snow is cleared).
Other cities have used this design before, but usually with a red background, he continues. His crew went with yellow because red is often associated with "stop," whereas they wanted to send more of a "caution, slow down" message.
The five test sites for the crosswalks are as follows:
• Hogan Road at North Ridge Drive near Sturgeon Heights School
• Akins Dr. at Arbor Crescent near Elmer S. Gish
• Lennox Drive at Liberton Drive near the Best Western
• St. Albert Trail at McKenny Avenue by the pedestrian overpass
• St. Albert Trail at Lennox Drive near Riverside Honda
These sites were picked based on recommendations from residents and the Safe Journeys to School report, Schick says. Each has a moderate amount of traffic with which to test the durability of the markings and will be cleared of snow in the winter to test winter visibility.
Tim Cusack has lived next to Lennox and Liberton for 13 years, and says there's about 10 to 12 serious car accidents there a year. The most recent one left an injured man and a smoking car on his front lawn.
"It's a matter of time before someone really is killed."
Cusack says he's glad to see the new crosswalks here and hopes they give drivers a subconscious reminder to slow down. He'd like to see light-up stop signs go into this intersection as well.
Sturgeon Heights administrative assistant June Bailey says she noticed the enhanced crosswalk being built near her school earlier this week.
"We need all the help we can get on that road."
This was a busy stretch of road that has lots of students crossing every day, she continues. She hoped the crosswalk would help, although she felt the colour looked a bit strange.
Schick asked drivers and pedestrians to email him at [email protected] to tell him how the new crosswalks affect pedestrian safety over the next 10 months. If there's an improvement, the city plans to use this design at other uncontrolled intersections.
Crews are also looking at other safety improvements such as double-width crossing lines, "yield to pedestrians when turning" signs, and raised crosswalks, Schick says.
About one person a day gets hit by a motor vehicle in the capital region, reports the Capital Region Intersection Safety Partnership (CRISP). Sixty per cent of those collisions happen in marked crosswalks.
