Crashes and other safety concerns prompt calls for major Hamilton Road redesign

David Isaac constantly has to look over his shoulder while cycling along Hamilton Road in London, Ont., in case vehicles appear from cross streets or driveways. It's a busy corridor the local lawyer avoids whenever he can.

"It's a bit of a scary process and puts a lot of pressure on commuters," said Isaac, who also teaches urbanism at Western University.

He's not the only one.

Joshua Benko works at V Food Spot at the intersection of Hamilton Road and Rectory Street, and said he and his co-workers witness crashes involving cars, cyclists and pedestrians on a monthly basis.

"There are quite a few accidents that happen specifically at this intersection. I'm not sure if it's because of the way the road turns here, but a lot of people don't seem to notice and will strike other traffic," Benko said. "It's much more frequent than it should be."

The stretch of Hamilton Road between Highbury Avenue to Adelaide Street is a key artery spanning east London and connecting drivers to Highway 401. Dotted with small shops and restaurants as well as on-street parking, its outdated infrastructure and a number of fatal crashes have prompted calls for a redesign. 

"There are a lot of great places in London where I feel really safe and comfortable riding and I'll ride with my kids but Hamilton Road, unfortunately, just isn't one of those," Isaac said.

In June, Rafal Szabat, a 54-year-old cyclist, died in hospital after he was struck by a vehicle at Hamilton and Rectory. One week later, a 12-year-old boy was struck by a vehicle on Hamilton Road, east of Gore Road, and suffered minor injuries.

September will mark two years since international student Jibin Benoy was killed in a hit and run at Hamilton Road and Little Grey Street while riding his bike home after a night shift in 2022. Police said the investigation is ongoing and they haven't yet made any arrests.

Now, the city councillor who represents the area wants city staff and politicians to take a look at what can be done. Ward 1 Coun. Hadleigh McAlister will ask a committee on Tuesday to consider a three-lane layout with protected bike lanes and accessible sidewalks between Adelaide and Highbury. 

"It's not the safest street," said McAlister. "There are all these things with older roadways that you have to deal with because it wasn't designed for heavy traffic the way we're seeing now." 

McAlister also wants more money allocated to beautify the Hamilton Road streetscape after the Master Mobility Plan is complete. He's asking for any large-scale redesign recommendations to be considered in the next multi-year budget.

Hamilton Road is 'unique'

Frequent collisions and safety concerns on Hamilton Road come as no surprise to Alexander Wray, who studies road design planning. Documents from a 1973 transportation study show the stretch was never designed to handle the high traffic volume it sees every day, he said. 

"We don't see the same amount of collisions on Wortley Road, Richmond Street, or Argyle but we are seeing them on Hamilton Road and it's because the street is being used improperly," said Wray, a PhD candidate at Western University.

"It's really unique in that it's treated as a pass-through even though it has a high amount of commercial activity on it."

Hamilton Road was developed before planning controls were introduced, the documents show. It's why it cuts diagonally across other streets and intersects at odd degrees. When mixed with an influx of vehicles and street parking, the challenges intensify, said Wray. 

"As soon as people use street parking, it immediately constraints them," he said. "There's no dedicated left-turn lane so it slows everything down and of course, that promotes frustration, which gets drivers doing dangerous things."

Wray believes crashes along Hamilton Road will only get worse as London's population continues to boom, and the city needs to improve infrastructure to keep up. 

Traffic disrupts neighbouring streets

McAlister said recent upgrades on the street include a red-light camera at Hamilton and Highbury, improved road markings, and approval for to make street lights brighter. The BIA is also considering installing a speed clock near Ealing Public School.

Cheryl Sigfrid has lived on neighbouring Vauxhall Street for 30 years, and she's noticed an increase in people speeding down her street trying to dodge traffic. 

"At the corner of Egerton, Hamilton Road and Trafalgar, there are five streets that come into one, so people get very frustrated waiting to get through those lights and so they come down to the little streets that are off Hamilton Road," she said. 

Many families with young children and elderly people in the area feel unsafe being on the street without traffic calming measures in place, Sigfrid said. She wants to see speed bumps and clearly marked speed limit signs on small side streets.