Hamilton councillor motions to improve pedestrian safety after staggering number of deaths in 2022

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Published May 2, 2022 at 5:15 pm

Hamilton councillor motions to improve pedestrian safety after staggering number of deaths in 2022
2022 is on pace to be one of the deadliest for Hamilton pedestrians, and a city councillor is calling upon his colleagues and the police to find solutions.

This year is on pace to be one of the deadliest for Hamilton pedestrians in recent history, and a city councillor is calling upon his colleagues and the Hamilton Police Service to find a solution.

Ward 8’s John-Paul Danko introduced the motion on Monday (May 2), which would leverage annual collision statistics and forensics to identify opportunities for pedestrian road safety enhancements.

The City and the police would jointly determine which “efforts can be undertaken for both traffic enforcement and preventative measures delivered through infrastructure improvements” and which, if any, funding or resources would be required.

The motion from Danko points out that while the city’s roadway safety efforts have resulted in a steady year-over-year decline in the total number of people being injured on Hamilton roadways since 2016, the annual total number of fatal collisions has not trended downwards.

There have been eight pedestrian deaths on Hamilton streets in the first four months of 2022. By comparison, there were four pedestrian deaths in all of 2020, and when you remove the pandemic variable, there were three pedestrian deaths in 2018. Stats for 2021 are not yet available.

The most dangerous intersections in Hamilton since 2016 are:

  1. Dundurn Street South at King Street West
  2. Fennell Avenue West at Upper James Street
  3. Barton Street East at Lottridge Street
  4. Main Street East at Wentworth Street South
  5. Dundurn Street South at Main Street West
  6. John Street South at Main Street East

The full motion can be read online here.

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