Councillor warns of crosswalk hazards

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This article was published 26/01/2024 (602 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Brandon city councillor worried that accidents are waiting to happen at a couple of crosswalks in his ward gave notice at this week’s council meeting that he will push administration to put safety improvements in place more quickly.

Coun. Greg Hildebrand (Ward 5) said at the Monday meeting that planned reconstruction projects on Richmond Avenue in the budget for 2025 will delay improvements that had previously been in the 2023 budget for the crosswalks near Shoppers Mall as well as near 22nd Street.

“We have children that are crossing that street,” he said at the meeting. “There’s obvious speeding issues. I think the police have pulled over 82 kilometre-an-hour speeds in that zone.”

Hildebrand has been pushing for safety improvements for his ward since he first ran for council in 2022 and has submitted inquiries to city administration about improving crosswalks along the street in recent months.

On top of giving notice on Monday that he’ll bring forward a motion at an upcoming meeting to spur quicker action, Hildebrand also called for a safety audit of Richmond Avenue from 18th to 26th Street.

“Extreme speeding has been noted by Brandon police in addition to heavy student traffic from Meadows School and a recent accident at the intersection that took down crossing signals at 22nd (Street),” Hildebrand said, adding that he’d like to see the crosswalk at 22nd Street and Richmond Avenue given a pedestrian-activated crossing light like the one at Victoria Avenue and 20th Street.

Last year, traffic and transportation planner Sam van Huizen wrote in a response to an inquiry by Hildebrand that those crosswalks have “some of the highest levels of enhancement when compared to other similar corridors around the City of Brandon.”

Van Huizen said while the infrastructure itself might not be modified, the city could potentially improve safety by educating residents, replacing push buttons and pedestrian-focused signage at pedestrian corridors, undertaking a condition assessment of pedestrian infrastructure and considering changing the layouts of crosswalks to improve sightlines and stopping distances for motorists.

Reading another response on behalf of van Huizen on Monday, city manager Ron Bowles said administration is not recommending the addition of pedestrian signals on Richmond Avenue or similar crosswalks in other parts of the city at this time because pedestrian and motorist traffic isn’t high enough to warrant the change.

“I don’t think that’s a great answer,” Hildebrand said.

Other councillors backed him up.

Coun. Kris Desjarlais (Ward 2) said he agreed with Hildebrand and that there are times where councillors’ desires won’t line up with administration’s recommendations because while staff might be subject-matter experts, councillors are the ones who have to deal directly with residents’ concerns.

“I think it would be helpful to know the costs that are associated with certain improvements for those crosswalks for budget deliberations so that should Coun. Hildebrand or anybody else feel compelled to bring something like that up, we know what the costs are and we could also get the sense of what the timelines of those things would be.”

Coun. Shawn Berry (Ward 7) said he’d sent Brandon Police Service Acting Chief Randy Lewis an email about the crosswalk at 22nd and Richmond after almost seeing a child get hit by a vehicle just before Christmas and a constable who works at the school sent a response to all councillors recommending a push-button pedestrian signal.

“I cannot believe we’re not even listening to that because we’re looking at ‘numbers,’” Berry said, gesturing for air quotes around the last word.

“Your numbers don’t jive here, folks. We’re talking about the safety of kids and I will promise you this: there is going to be a serious injury if we don’t get off our rear ends and do something about this. This is not the first time this has been brought up at this table and it’s about time we stop giving stupid stats and excuses and do something about it soon.”

Mayor Jeff Fawcett said the issues Hildebrand brought up need to be addressed, especially as the city encourages kids to walk to school. He said Hildebrand and Coun. Jason Splett (Ward 8) will be joining the city’s Vision Zero Task Force to make sure council is represented on that body.

Speaking to the Sun on Thursday, Hildebrand said another factor in the city’s delay is staff are waiting for direction on Brandon’s Vision Zero policies. Vision Zero is a traffic-design philosophy aiming for zero traffic deaths or serious injuries.

As for city staff’s view that there isn’t the traffic necessary to justify a pedestrian-activated signal, Hildebrand said examining the number of motorists over a 24-hour period isn’t the same as examining traffic volumes when kids are going to and from school.

On top of the signal he wants at 22nd and Richmond, Hildebrand said he’d like to see rapid-flashing beacons installed at the crosswalk near Shoppers Mall. He noted a pedestrian was struck and killed at the latter crosswalk in October 2022.

He said he doesn’t know yet when he will introduce a motion requesting crosswalk updates, but he will consult the city clerk and aim for it to come to the council table sometime soon.

If there are any residents with feedback on what should be done regarding the Richmond Avenue crosswalks, Hildebrand encouraged them to reach out by email to ward5@brandon.ca.

In an email, Brandon’s director of development services, Mark Allard, said the city is continuing to review options for the intersection at 22nd and Richmond. He wrote that the pedestrian-controlled signals like the one at Victoria and 20th Street, referred to as “pedestrian half signals,” are a higher standard of crossing than what is currently in place on Richmond.

“Initial assessments were undertaken using national warrant criteria and standards, however the option to install a higher standard remains,” Allard said.

Allard added that the recommendation for a half signal proposed by the BPS constable will be considered as part of the final solution and that administration will continue to work with council to determine the timing for any projects.

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