Council to weigh in on safety improvements at dangerous Hamilton intersections

Hamilton councillors will have the chance to weigh in on safety improvements at three lower-city intersections with dangerous track records, after city council unanimously approved Wednesday two motions spurred by recent collisions involving pedestrians.

The motions, first put forward at April 4's public works committee, direct staff to present the results of road safety reviews currently underway of the intersections of: King Street East and Main Street East; Dundurn Street and Main Street West; and Dundurn Street and King Street West. Those results should include costs and proposed implementation plans.  

The motions also require staff to consult with the city's light-rail transit (LRT) office in order to identify whether any of the proposed safety enhancements could be incorporated into the design of the LRT corridor.

Councillors Nrinder Nann (Ward 3) and John Paul Danko (Ward 8) brought the motions forward last week. 

Wednesday's approval comes after Hamilton drivers hit several pedestrians in recent weeks, including at two of the intersections under review. 

Three pedestrians were killed at King Street East and Main Street East, also known as the Delta intersection, on March 19, after a vehicle that was speeding down Main Street East crashed and burst into flames. The driver also died.

"Residents of the adjacent area were already expressing concern for quite some time about this intersection," said Nann at last week's committee meeting, noting it is a common place to cross for pedestrians who are accessing Gage Park. 

On March 30, a 14-year-old girl was sent to the hospital in critical condition after she was hit at Dundurn and Main. Police tweeted Wednesday — two weeks after the crash — that she had been released from hospital, but that her recovery continues.

Eight pedestrians killed already in 2022

On Wednesday, most councillors who spoke on road safety noted that aggressive driving appears to be increasing throughout the city.

Eight pedestrians have already been killed this year on Hamilton's roads, compared to four in all of 2020, the last year for which the city's collision statistics are available. City spokesperson Emily Trotta told CBC Hamilton on Wednesday that there were nine pedestrian deaths in the city in 2021.

According to the city's 2020 Annual Collision report, Dundurn Street's intersections with Main Street and King Street had the highest frequency of fatal and injury-producing collisions between 2016 and 2020. The report also showed that intersections with Main Street – which, for a significant distance, has five lanes of one-way traffic – account for four out of 10 of the intersections with the highest frequency of fatal and injury-causing collisions.

We have a problem, and we've had a problem here for a long time.- Councillor Maureen Wilson 

Mike Field, the city's acting director of transportation operations and maintenance, confirmed Wednesday that Main Street is over-represented in the city's collision statistics. He said his division is reviewing 15 high-collision intersections across the city, including those covered by the recent motions, but indicated that it's hard to say which interventions would work best until the reviews are complete.

"We definitely don't want anyone in the city to feel they are unsafe whether they're walking or cycling or driving," he said. "I think what we're hearing from the public is they have a lot of concerns about it."

But when asked by Coun. Maria Pearson (Ward 10) whether the department has considered what are called scramble intersections, where all cars must stop while pedestrians cross in any direction, he said it's been considered, but never implemented. 

"The challenges with those types of crosswalks is that you're stopping all traffic movement for a period of time," Field said.

'Truly a crisis'

At last week's committee meeting, Coun. Maureen Wilson (Ward 1) said that, according to city reports, the number of collisions in the city has been increasing for the last 10 years. 

"A majority of these occur in dry surface conditions, the majority occur during the daylight hours, and more than half of the total collisions occur at intersections… We have a problem, and we've had a problem here for a long time." 

Since that public works meeting, drivers have killed two more Hamilton pedestrians.

Conductor Boris Brott was killed near his Durand home on April 5, and Glen Harison Clark, 42, died after being hit on Upper Wentworth Street on April 8. In both cases, the drivers fled the scene, but one has since been located. A 33-year-old man is charged in Brott's death. 

"We are living in a city that is car dominant," said Coun. Sam Merulla (Ward 4), noting the majority of drivers he observes appear to be distracted in some way. "The pedestrian safety issue is truly a crisis."

At Wednesday's meeting, council was presented with a petition with 171 signatures, demanding that council take action on pedestrian safety. The petition, which launched after recent incidents, calls on council to adopt traffic calming measures throughout the city, establish safe streets audits in every ward, and develop public awareness campaigns directed at drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists.

"Pedestrians from across the city are unsafe and are fearful of walking down the street," it says. "We need to respond to the rash of pedestrian deaths and injuries."