CALGARY — Ward 4 Calgary Councillor DJ Kelly is leading the charge to make pedestrian road crossings safer by adding more Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPI) systems to busy city intersections.
LPI systems give pedestrians the ‘walk’ signal three to seven seconds before vehicles are given the green light at intersections.
“I’ve heard loud and clear that neighbours want to be able to walk to work, to school, to their local grocery store safely and without the fear of being hit by a vehicle,” said Kelly, who is bringing a Notice of Motion (NoM) to the Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday.
“This notice of motion gives Calgarians a meaningful safety improvement at no more cost than the work to change the timing on an intersection light,” added Kelly, who is joined in the NoM by Mayor Jeromy Farkas and Ward 3 Councillor Andrew Yule.
“Adding Leading Pedestrian Intervals to intersections across Calgary is a proven, low-cost safety measure, significantly reducing the number of turning-vehicle collisions with pedestrians by between 25 and 60%," said Kelly.
There already are 53 intersections in Calgary with LPI systems and the NoM will “supercharge that work by ensuring that every pedestrian crossing at high-collision intersections, school zones, transit-adjacent intersections, and areas with high pedestrian volumes have this timing added within two years.” said Kelly
“Our council has been very intentional in addressing pedestrian safety this term. We are looking at every way we can help reduce the number of deaths on our roads,” said Yule. “I am happy to support this Notice of Motion as it is an easy, inexpensive, small change to the programming of our traffic lights that will have a great impact on the safety of pedestrians in Calgary,"
The NoM was drafted with the help and support of the Alberta Motor Association (AMA).
"This is exactly the type of action urgently needed to improve road safety. Leading Pedestrian Intervals are a proven, effective tool that reduce conflicts between turning vehicles and pedestrians; conflicts that too often result in serious injury or death,” said Jane Flower, vice-president of corporate purpose at the AMA.
“AMA is proud to support Councillor Kelly and the meaningful difference this would make for people on our streets,”
The NoM notes the LPI system has been adopted in Toronto, Vancouver, Seattle, and New York as a standard safety treatment, where the systems have reduced pedestrian-vehicle collisions by 25 to 60%.
“A citywide rollout over a two-year period would align with Calgary’s Vision Zero commitments and the 2030 Safe Mobility Plan,” reads the NoM. “Administration has indicated costs for this program would be minimal or managed withing existing budgets as it only requires reprograming lights and should not require any infrastructure upgrades.
If the motion is passed at Executive Committee on Tuesday, it will go before city council for debate to become a City of Calgary bylaw on Sept. 22/
