Call it the new five-second rule.
After a successful introduction last year as a pilot project, the city's operations committee voted Monday to roll out a new safety measure at some of the city's busier intersections.
Known as a “leading pedestrian interval” or LPI, the measure gives walkers an extra five seconds to cross the road before drivers see their light change from red to green.
Joe Rocca, the city's traffic and asset management supervisor, said the move is a low-cost way to improve pedestrian safety. When the change was made at the intersection of Kathleen Street and Notre Dame Avenue, pedestrian/vehicle conflicts were significantly reduced during peak traffic times.
“The number of conflicts were reduced by 25 to 41 per cent throughout the day,” Rocca said.
A conflict isn't necessarily an accident, he added. It's describes a situation where a pedestrian and a vehicle are trying to cross the same space at the same time. The extra five seconds gives walkers time to cross at least one lane of traffic, making them more visible to drivers.
The only concern with the program is for visually impaired people who use vehicle traffic movement as a cue that it's safe to cross.
To address that issue, the audio cues installed with the crossing lights will be updated with the new times.
The four new locations for LPI's in 2018 are:
- Brady Street at Minto Street;
- Notre Dame Avenue at King Street;
- Notre Dame Avenue at Ste. Anne Road/Louis Street; and,
- Notre Dame Avenue at Wilma Street.
Costs for installing the LPIs range between $1,000, to reprogram the cross lights, and $18,000, for lights that don't already have installed the audio cues for people with visual impairments.
“By giving pedestrians a head start, this allows pedestrians to establish the right-of-way, which increases the visibility of pedestrians to motorists, and thereby reduces potential conflicts with turning vehicles,” a staff report on the project said.
