Bright yellow curb extenders are here to stay in Calgary's southeast
CBC News | Posted: May 25, 2019 3:47 PM | Last Updated: May 25, 2019
Yellow blocks have resulted in 25% drop in serious injuries, 3 km/h slower speeds
Calgary's bright yellow concrete blocks have been so effective at slowing down traffic in one southeast neighbourhood that they're about to become a permanent fixture there.
Since 2016, the made-in-Calgary, temporary concrete curbs have been piloted in Erin Woods as a relatively cheap way for the city to narrow roads, slow traffic and make neighbourhoods safer.
Over the past two years, the pilot program has led to a 25 per cent reduction in serious injuries, as well as an improvement in drivers' yielding behaviour toward pedestrians in Erin Woods, said Jonathan Chapman, a transportation planner with the city.
"Every individual car is moving at a different speed, but when you look at it on average, we're seeing a reduction of around three kilometres per hour."
The city plans to pour concrete at eight locations later this summer to make these road changes a permanent fixture in Erin Woods.
To date, the city has deployed 730 of these temporary curbs to 90 locations across Calgary, including Winston Heights-Mountview and Beddington.
The curbs recently won the Transportation Association of Canada's 2019 Road Safety Engineering Award, which will be presented in September at their annual conference.