The City of Port Alberni is looking at upgrading some of its crosswalks after multiple pedestrians have been hit this year.
Councillor Charles Mealey provided a list of crosswalks on Redford Street (16th Avenue, 15th Avenue, 14th Avenue and Anderson Avenue) and Johnston Road (Adelaide Street, Elizabeth Street and Margaret Street) that are in need of upgrades. During a Monday, Nov. 27 council meeting, Mealey and the rest of council directed staff to investigate the costs and cost-sharing opportunities to upgrade these crosswalks.
“It’s quite obvious these are the intersections, especially at nighttime, that are problematic, especially with the Redford Street extension and how people speed down there,” Mealey said. “I think it’s about time that the city got serious about these intersections.”
Two pedestrians were hit last month in crosswalks on Redford Street. The first crash, which took place on 15th Avenue in front of the Hospitality Inn, resulted in a woman being airlifted to a trauma centre. The second was a hit-and-run where the victim sustained “minor injuries,” according to RCMP.
Two pedestrians were killed earlier this year on Redford Street after being struck by vehicles near intersections with Wood Avenue and Sixth Avenue.
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Mealey said pedestrians are taking their lives into their hands every time they use a crosswalk on Redford Street.
“When it’s dark and the fog is out, you can’t see the next intersection in front of you,” he said. “There are a lot of children, kids that have to walk to Wood [Elementary] School and the high school.”
Mealey suggested making the crosswalks pedestrian-controlled, which would interrupt the flow of traffic.
“That way pedestrians can cross at any time of day, without any problem,” he said. “There’s already crosswalks there, let’s just make them better for the people.”
Mayor Sharie Minions agreed on Nov. 27 that this is an “important” issue to look at. She pointed out that the city has already undertaken a pedestrian safety study, and the city also has a report from the Ministry of Transportation specifically looking at lower Johnston Road (although this has not been released to the public).
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Based on that first report, the city has already made some pedestrian safety improvements to the intersection at 10th Avenue and Dunbar Street, as well as 10th Avenue and Redford Street.
Minions also pointed out that Port Alberni has “very wide roads” and the best way to improve pedestrian safety is to narrow the streets.
However, this will be a very long-term, expensive process, and Minions acknowledged that work needs to be done as soon as possible.
“We are at a point where significantly more work needs to be done,” she said. “We know that some of these improvements are very expensive to make, so they’re going to require a more significant commitment from council than we have been making.”
She added that she would like city staff to look at lower Third Avenue and Bute Street, where a number of pedestrians have been hit over the past few years, including one fatality.
“At this point we need to do a lot more to improve our intersections quicker,” she said. “We can’t necessarily just rely on the old report that we have.”
CAO Mike Fox says the city is currently working on a traffic “master plan,” but Minions said she doesn’t want to see this just included as part of the master plan. Getting costs ahead of time will allow council to include those costs in next year’s budget. She voted in favour of Mealey’s motion in order to expedite the process.
“People keep getting hit on our streets,” she said. “We need to take some action, even if it doesn’t come with a full study first.”
Mealey agreed that he made the motion to “get the ball rolling.”
Minions made a supplementary motion on Nov. 27, asking staff to arrange a meeting with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to follow up on lower Johnston Road pedestrian safety.
“It’s been long enough [since that report was done] that there hasn’t been action taken,” she said. “We’ve had several pedestrian accidents since that report was done. I think it’s time to follow up with them again.”