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Amber light at crash corner too short: activist

Timing cited for high accident rate

By: Jen Skerritt

Posted: 02/10/2011 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

A traffic watchdog group warns the length of the amber light at Kenaston and McGillivray boulevards is dangerously inadequate and is part of the reason it's the worst intersection in the city for collisions.

Wise Up Winnipeg traffic activist Todd Dube said the four-second amber light at the south Winnipeg corner does not give drivers enough time to clear the intersection and puts them at greater risk of a crash. Dube said it's a high-volume, high-speed intersection and based on traffic formulas other North American jurisdictions use, the amber light at Kenaston and McGillivray should be 5.5 seconds.

Dube said the city should be using a formula that sets amber-light times based on the posted speed limit, the length of the intersection and the grade of the road. He said doing so would decrease collisions along with the number of drivers ticketed by red-light cameras.

Dube helped start the non-profit group Wise Up Winnipeg last year, out of frustration that officials are relying on red-light cameras to improve intersection safety, rather than alternatives.

City officials say the length of amber lights at Kenaston and McGillivray is four seconds in all directions. In the case of the left-hand turning lanes, the amber is followed by a two-second red light. City staff are currently reviewing a 2008 Georgia law that requires amber lights to be timed to U.S. federal engineering standards, plus one additional second. A report is expected to be brought to a city committee in the coming months.

City transportation officials were unable to comment further on Wednesday.

"People don't have adequate time to safely stop or to proceed. It's called the dilemma zone," Dube said.

"The fact is, that's an 80-kilometre high-speed zone and 4.0 seconds is grossly inadequate and that is why you have a high number of accidents there."

Earlier this week, Manitoba Public Insurance released a study of five-year collision data that revealed Kenaston and McGillivray recorded the highest number of crashes of any Winnipeg intersection. Between 2005 and 2009, 1,052 collisions were reported at Kenaston and McGillivray, followed by 1,003 at Leila Avenue and McPhillips Street (the previous No. 1) and 784 at Grant Avenue and Kenaston Boulevard.

MPI says its data show the top 10 collision corners are all high-traffic areas, and many crashes are rear-enders and occur during peak rush hours on Friday. Traffic volumes have increased one to two per cent at Kenaston and McGillivray every year for the last five years, and more than 60,000 motorists travel through the intersection every day.

Dube said Georgia saw an 80-per-cent drop in the number of drivers ticketed by red-light cameras when they regulated how amber lights are timed. He said even one-tenth of a second can make a huge difference and improve safety.

Dube believes photo-enforcement is more about generating profit than making city streets safer for drivers.

jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 10, 2011 B4

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