Prepared by:

Jeff Suggett, M. Sc.,
Senior Research Specialist, Synectics Inc.

Brian Malone, P. Eng, P.T.O.E,
President, Synectics Inc.

Introduction

Synectics Inc. was retained by the City of Hamilton to conduct a safety review of an at-grade uncontrolled pedestrian and cyclist midblock crossing of an arterial roadway in the City of Hamilton adjacent to McMaster University. It is used heavily, primarily by students attending the university.

The authors present an argument for using a proactive approach to evaluating safety at sites having a considerable presence of pedestrian and cyclists – given that typically collisions involving these groups occur in low numbers hampering
diagnosis and comparison with other sites, and the consequences of these types of collisions likely lead to an injury or fatality, therefore factors that evaluate pedestrian or cyclist collision risk should be addressed before collisions occur.
The goal of the safety review was to evaluate the level of risk at the study site and identify opportunities for safety improvement. Recently, the location had received attention regarding the safety of road users crossing at the location. As there had
been no collisions occurring at the site, the authors needed to use alternative methods to evaluate safety. These involved conducting a conflict analysis, collecting speed and volume data and applying crossing warrants.
 

Based on the review of the conflict analysis, the collection of volume and speed data and the application of crossing warrants, the following could be concluded. While no collisions have been recorded at the study site, conditions exist such that the potential for a pedestrian-vehicle or cyclistvehicle collision could occur in the future. Several factors were noted as contributing to these conditions, being:

• Pedestrian-cyclist crossing volumes are extremely high;

• Speed data recorded in the vicinity of the crossing indicates that vehicles significantly exceed the posted speed limits;

• Numerous instances of unsafe pedestrian-cyclist behaviour were observed.

Based on these findings, the authors recommended a number of treatments to improve safety at the location, specifically a midblock pedestrian traffic signal.

For a complete copy of this paper, please contact: jsuggett@synectics-inc.net