Hamilton councillor pushing to expedite review of King and Main intersection, where crash killed 4
Ward 3 councillor Nrinder Nann says city also needs to rethink its arterial roads
A Hamilton city councillor is pushing to expedite a review of the intersection at Main Street East and King Street East after a crash in the area killed four people, including three pedestrians, on Saturday.
Nrinder Nann, councillor for Ward 3, told CBC Hamilton she has received consistent complaints from pedestrians about Main and King streets, which are one-way for most of the long stretches they run parallel through downtown.
She's also received complaints about the intersection close to where the crash occurred, where the two streets meet. The intersection sits in front of an entrance to Gage Park, one of the lower city's largest parks and home to the Hamilton's Children Museum.
Nann said she's waiting to hear about the audit of the intersection focused on pedestrian accessibility and will see what can be done ahead of the construction of the light-rail transit (LRT) system, which will see two nearby stops installed.
Her comments come after police say a man stole a car near Barton and Kenilworth early Saturday morning and was driving at a "high rate of speed" westbound toward King Street before it hopped the curb, smashed into a concrete hydro pole and burst into flames.
It killed the driver of the vehicle and three others, including two people Pizza Pizza said were arriving to the restaurant to do maintenance work there.
It's unclear what impact, if any, the road design and intersection had in the crash.
But Nann said speeding is a city-wide problem.
"The truth of the matter in Hamilton is drivers are driving way too fast on our roads," she said on Wednesday.
"We have a serious problem across the entire city of drivers not being responsible to the rules of the road and being completely negligent ... it is literally causing death."
Hamilton police said in an email on Wednesday that officers have issued 7,467 speeding tickets since the start of the year. There have been 2,002 tickets issued in March.
Review of arterial roadways needed: councillor
Nann said she thinks the city should redesign roadways based on a child being able to move around the city, even if it means investing "astronomically."
She added there could also be better screening for those applying for a driver's licence and stronger enforcement, though all of that would be out of the city's hands.
Nann said it's time to call for a comprehensive review of all major arterial roadways in Hamilton.
"We can't continue having these kinds of incidences break our hearts in the community and have families have to deal with the tragic loss of a loved one," she said.
"I think we have a duty and a responsibility as a municipality to address the safety concern that is Main Street and King Street. The fact they are multi-lane thruways being treated as highways adjacent to homes, parks, workplaces is no longer an option."