Collisions involving pedestrian deaths, injuries on the rise in Winnipeg: report

August 30, 2024 Canuck

The number of pedestrians hit and killed in traffic collisions in Winnipeg has increased steadily over the years, with the highest concentrations at intersections in the downtown and Point Douglas areas, a new report commissioned by the City of Winnipeg says.

The report, which includes data from Manitoba Public Insurance from 2012 to 2020, found fatal pedestrian collisions increased by, on average, 6.7 per cent per year, while those resulting in injuries were up an average of 10 per cent per year.

From 2012 to 2020, there were 39 pedestrian fatalities in collisions that were at intersections, and 25 at non-intersection
locations, according to the report.

Allan Bailey crosses the intersection at Portage and Arlington multiple times every day. Bailey, who uses a walker, has had some close calls with vehicles, including one just this past May.

As he was walking across Portage, a vehicle making a right turn nearly hit him, he said.

“I’ll tell you, I just threw my walker in front,” he said.

Portage and Arlington had nine injuries and one fatality, making it one of the more dangerous intersections for pedestrians, according to the report, but it was far from the only hot spot.

It found the highest concentrations of collisions occurred in the east downtown, west downtown, North Point Douglas and South Point Douglas neighbourhoods, with 45 per cent of fatal collisions involving pedestrians in or near downtown.

One particular hot spot is the stretch of Main Street between Higgins and Redwood avenues. At Higgins and Main, there were seven collisions involving pedestrians over the study period, including one fatality.

In collisions where pedestrians were injured or killed, 42.3 per cent involved pedestrians crossing intersections when they had the right of way.

Jairo Viafara, an independent transportation planner and author of the report, says collisions are concentrated in areas where more people walk to get around.

“We have so many attractors, like the arena, we have theatres, art galleries, businesses, offices — that puts a lot of people on the streets, around the sidewalks,” which requires them to cross the street many times, he said.

Areas with higher numbers of collisions often correlate with neighbourhoods with higher concentrations of people with low incomes, Viafara said.

“Many neighbourhoods, particularly low-income neighbourhoods across North America, are the ones where we see these phenomena being replicated more and more often … the association between pedestrian fatalities and low-income neighbourhoods.”

Moving in the wrong direction: advocate

Point Douglas resident Hillary Rosentreter says the findings in the report match what she experiences in her daily life.

“There are a lot of people in these areas and these people get around on foot typically,” Rosentreter said.

“There are shops nearby. It’s easy for people to just pop down … and walk across the street and grab their groceries,” but “sometimes there aren’t crosswalks or safe places to cross,” she said.

Many intersections where pedestrians are injured or killed lack proper infrastructure, like sidewalks, crosswalks, medians and traffic calming devices, Viafara wrote in the report.

Public works chair Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West) says city council approved a new road safety strategic action plan in 2022, and plans to spend $30 million over the next six years to improve road safety.

“We’re an old city. We’re missing a lot of sidewalks in different places. We never had any on-road or protected bike lanes for a long time. So all of these are very positive things to be improving road safety,” Lukes said.

Manitoba Public Insurance adopted a road safety strategy in 2017 that set a goal of moving “towards zero” traffic fatalities or serious injuries.

Mel Marginet, a member of the sustainable transportation team at the Green Action Centre, says Viafara’s report shows efforts toward that goal are not working in Winnipeg.

“We’ve had this idea that we can have a ‘towards zero’ model for our streets, but obviously we have never been moving towards zero. We’ve always been moving in the opposite direction,” she said.

The report recommends the city prioritize identifying problems and implementing pedestrian safety measures at intersections.

The city’s Assiniboia Community Committee will take up the report at its meeting next Wednesday.

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