Freeze crosswalk flag program, says Halifax council report

Halifax council is expected to vote Tuesday on a community-led initiative that gives pedestrians bright orange flags to use at crosswalks.

In May, council decided to suspend the program and a staff report released Friday recommends the Halifax Regional Municipality not allow any more flags to be installed until more studies can be done.

Could they put pedestrians in a worse position in terms of safety? We don't have that data.- Coun. Shawn Cleary

Norm Collins worked for  years to get the flags installed at 153 crosswalks in the municipality, and 77 more elsewhere in Nova Scotia.

"We continually run into roadblocks with staff who for whatever reason have not been historically supportive of this program," he said.

The president of the Crosswalk Safety Society of Nova Scotia said he gets calls from residents several times a month asking for the flags. Since the program was put on hold this spring, he's had to turn them away.

"It's very perplexing and confusing as to why they would have any resistance or objection," he said. "The flags are not causing any harm."

Collins says at $200 a location, the flags are a cost-effective way to provide extra visibility to pedestrians, even if only about 10 per cent of pedestrians will use them.

He says the flag's presence alone makes drivers more aware they're approaching a crosswalk.

Could flags make it worse?

"Simply the fact the flags are there 24/7, they create greater awareness of crosswalks," Collins said.

"We are very frustrated," he added.

"Look, we're a group of volunteers who are trying to make the city safer. We have evidence that the crosswalk flags do that. We have strong support from the residents. Many of the councillors support the program."

But Coun. Shawn Cleary said they need to do more research to see if the flags are the best option. It's even possible the flags might make pedestrians more unsafe, for example by distracting drivers. 

"Could they put pedestrians in a worse position in terms of safety? We don't have that data," he said.

Cleary said in recent years, other municipalities have chosen to remove the flags.

"At the end of the day, we really want to make pedestrians safer. We don't want to just put up flags, because 'Hey, flags are orange, and that should make people stop.' We want to know, does it make people stop?" he said.