Fredericton considers pedestrian overpasses

A 30-per-cent spike in pedestrian accidents in one year has Fredricton city officials considering the installation of five overpasses.

The old Trans-Canada highway behind the Aitken Centre, a long-used shortcut for university students living in the Skyline Acres area, was the scene of a fatal accident in December, one of 31 incidents in which pedestrians were hit by cars in 2006.

On Tuesday, a reportpresented to the city's public safety committee by the engineering department recommended pedestrian overpasses for five areas in the city, with the Aitken Centre area and the same highway between the Fredericton and Regent malls being the top priorities.

Each overpass would cost approximately $2 million.

Tony Whalen, chair of the city's public safety committee, said responsibility for this section of the highway is divided.

"That's what makes it more complicated," Whalen said Tuesday. "It isn't just a city issue. It becomes an issue for the province and you can probably say as well the university communities there —both St. Thomas University and [the University of New Brunswick] —because a considerable amount of traffic there is created by students crossing that highway."

Bruce Baird of the city's engineering department said while this solution is the best they could come up with, it's not foolproof.

"I've experienced that personally, where I've seen pedestrians cross busy highways in the shadow of an overhead pedestrian ramp," Baird said.

Council will review the recommendation before making a decision.