Martyn Williams writes, “Our lack of consideration for the needs of people travelling on foot has come into sharp focus yet again with the tragic loss of a local resident who was walking across the Beaverbank Connector from local services to his home.”
On the International Day for Persons with a Disability Paul Vienneau takes stock. Some progress, especially in the crafting of Bill 59, and a long way to go, he writes. “It’s as if the government thinks the work is done now. But change doesn’t come from from legislation. The legislation is merely the starting point.”
We have seen seven accidents where cars hit pedestrians since last Friday, two of those incidents happened on well-mrked crosswalks. “How important is making sure pedestrians are fully protected at crosswalks versus the need for traffic flow? My view is that improving or maintaining traffic flow at any location is not worth a single life-affecting injury or death. When a friend or family member is hit and is injured, that priority becomes very clear,” writes Martyn Williams.
Evelyn C. White reviews Ted Rudland’s excellent “Displacing Blackness: Planning, Power, and Race in Twentieth-Century Halifax”, and the pros and cons of a CFL stadium in Halifax. “$170-$190 million to lure a CFL team to Halissippi? Ya’ll might wanna draw up another game plan.”
In Nova Scotia pedestrians and cyclists are particularly vulnerable to accidents. It doesn’t need to be that way, writes Martyn Williams. There are things we can do beyond increasing some fines, other countries have done so, and it is paying off.
There are two accessible parking spots along the Harbourwalk South, where you will find the NSCAD Port Campus, the Nova Scotia Centre for Crafts and Design, the Mary E. Black Gallery, and more. Unless the cruise ships are in town, that is. That’s when the Halifax Port Authority shuts the spots down.
How many more pedestrians must be hit before our municipality acts and we reduce bloodshed on our streets? Martyn Williams offers up three simple solutions that will save lives.
Lower speed limits, although not a panacea, mean fewer accidents, and fewer pedestrian deaths. Both City and Province agree that lowering speeds is a positive move, yet a standoff about jurisdictional authority is stopping implementation. “Not at all satisfactory for parents who need to head off to work before their children walk to school alone, or for the pedestrians regularly hit on our crosswalks,” writes Martyn Williams
Too many lives are lost or ruined through traffic accidents, writes Martyn Williams. “Who in local and provincial governance will stand up and admit that road safety in Nova Scotia is not a problem, it is a crisis?”
Unfortunately, Halifax’s new Road Safety Plan isn’t living up to its billing, writes safe streets activist Martyn Williams, who suggests some simple solutions that were successful elsewhere and would go a long ways in making getting out and about in Halifax both safer and more enjoyable for all.