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Big changes were particularly noticed where small streets meet arterial roads.
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Relatively simple changes can increase the feeling of safety of pedestrians at busy intersections, according to work carried out by a team from the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) in collaboration with Piétons Québec.
These changes notably resulted in a reduction by half in the number of what researchers call “interactions” between pedestrians and automobiles, namely incidents in which less than two metres separated vehicle and pedestrian on the roadway.
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Data already showed collisions involving pedestrians occur more often at an intersection, and the presence of a major street at the intersection increases the risk of a collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian, said Professor Marie-Soleil Cloutier, who directs the Laboratoire Piétons et Espace urbain at INRS.
And yet, she added, “we had the starting hypothesis that we would have fewer (interventions) at these intersections.”
“We wondered if it was perhaps because it was more complicated to intervene at an intersection where there are big streets,” Cloutier said.
Intersections that include arteries are more problematic, explains a document from Piétons Québec, because of the greater volume of vehicles there, their higher speed and the configuration of the traffic lanes, usually more numerous and wider.
The analysis of road reports in Quebec between 2015 and 2019 also shows 38 per cent of pedestrian deaths and 42 per cent of pedestrian injuries were on an arterial road.
Cloutier and her colleagues studied seven intersections in collaboration with Montreal, Longueuil, Laval and Gatineau. All these municipalities were already working on modifications to the intersections studied.
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While some of these intersections served as controls for comparison purposes, others were the site of interventions such as the addition of a pedestrian light; widening the sidewalk; the addition of sidewalk overhangs; the addition of a pedestrian refuge (a median to stop when you are unable to complete the crossing); the removal of a traffic lane, with the addition of bike lanes; and the addition of a rapidly flashing rectangular light.
“What is interesting about this project is we are not talking about very expensive or very big redevelopments,” Cloutier said.
A total of 543 pedestrians, with a slightly higher proportion of women, were interviewed as part of this project, both before and after the interventions.
Before the interventions, less than half of pedestrians surveyed felt safe at intersections of major arteries. But, afterward, the pedestrians interviewed reported feeling less pressed for time when crossing; the number of pedestrians believing drivers were driving faster than the posted speed limit decreased; and respect for the light by pedestrians increased at intersections with an arterial street.
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“Usually, the places where we have a lot of interactions are the places where there is also a greater possibility a collision will involve a pedestrian,” Cloutier said. “So, in that sense, we are basically trying to prevent collisions by seeing what happens before the collisions.”
For example, at the corner of Crémazie Blvd. and d’Iberville St. in Montreal, the number of interactions between pedestrians and vehicles decreased from 20.5 per cent before the interventions to 5.1 per cent after. The percentage of pedestrians who felt rushed by vehicles also decreased slightly, to 45.5 per cent from 51.5 per cent.
On the other hand, at this same intersection, the proportion of pedestrians who estimated vehicles were travelling faster than the permitted speed increased from 60 per cent before the interventions to 71.4 per cent after.
The greatest improvements were seen at the intersection between a local street and an arterial road, rather than at the intersection between two arterial roads, likely because it is easier to modify a local street (e.g., by removing a traffic lane) than an artery.
“Now, we can go back to the cities and tell them, you see, removing lanes, banning right turns on red lights, it doesn’t cost that much,” Cloutier said. “The idea of the project, in the end, is to have examples, data, of what works or not (to improve pedestrian safety).”
Improving pedestrians’ sense of safety, she added, will also improve people’s propensity to walk.
“If we wait for the big project to improve the situation 100 per cent,” Cloutier said, “we may be depriving ourselves of smaller improvements that cost less. And if we make small improvements at each intersection, the entire journey will be safer.”
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