St. Vital crosswalk upgrades OK’d by councillors
UPGRADES have been approved for the St. Vital pedestrian crossing where an eight-year-old boy was struck and killed in February.
Councillors on the public works committee Tuesday unanimously approved the administration plan for the installation of eye-level warning lights and possibly strobe-like flashing LED lights at the St. Anne’s Road and Varennes Avenue crossing.
David Patman, the city’s transportation manager, said the lights will be installed on a longterm basis to determine if they should be installed at other pedestrian crosswalks across the city.
Surafiel Musse Tesfamariam, a Grade 3 student, was with his mother at the crosswalk at Varennes Avenue when he was struck by a vehicle. The boy’s death was the third at that crossing since 1981.
The department had already been studying traffic
safety improvements along St. Anne’s Road when they were asked to include the crossing following the boy’s death.
“We did the analysis and we’re looking for a solution to be implemented for the new school year in the fall,” Patman told the committee. “Staff in the traffic management branch worked very hard to get this report to you in a timely fashion.”
Residents had proposed the installation of traffic lights or a lower speed limit, but those suggestions were not accepted by the public works department.
Patman said tree branches that might obscure the existing flashing amber lights at the crossing will be pruned to improve driver vision.