Raise the Hammer

To be fair, as far as I know, Hamilton was the first municipality in Ontario to explicitly exclude PXOs, more than a decade ago without implementing any replacement (almost no crosswalks at uncontrolled intersections were replaced until very recently). If you know of precedents, before 2000, please let me know as I would be interested. I also don't know of any other municipality that used this interpretation to suddenly remove all signs from hundreds of painted crosswalks at uncontrolled intersections and then simply let the painted lines fade. Again, if you know of other examples, please cite them.

At the time Hart Solomon cited three reasons:

1. PXOs are very rare outside Toronto and so drivers don't know what they are. This is slightly strange reasoning as PXOs are defined in the HTA regulations and discussed in the Ontario Driver's Handbook. The same argument could have been made about bike lanes ten years ago.

2. PXOs don't have a good safety record. I'm not sure what the comparison is, but since most pedestrian accidents happen at regular intersections, the safety record of even basic pedestrian infrastructure is not good.

3. Expense. The argument was that they are almost as expensive as the pedestrian operated traffic light that Hamilton prefers. This may have been true in the past, but the current price for a pedestrian activated traffic light is $150,000 and the cost of a Toronto style PXO is around $30,000, over five times less.

The bottom line is the the City's decision left Hamilton without a feasible way of providing crosswalks at uncontrolled intersections for over a decade, and increased danger to pedestrians by leaving the painted lines on the road (most notably on Hunter Street adjacent to the YWCA and pedestrian underpass used by seniors and children/parents going to the YWCA Seniors Centre and daycare).

In BC and Alberta both pedestrian activated traffic lights and painted lines/sign crosswalks are used. The Traffic Light model is reserved for those locations that are most dangerous or with highest pedestrian activity.

Comment edited by kevlahan on 2013-11-11 10:28:57