New study focuses on creating safer roads for pedestrians, motorists in Lethbridge

A new project focused on addressing the leading causes of road collisions and fatalities is underway in Lethbridge.

The City of Lethbridge has embarked on a new road safety project focused on decreasing vehicle-related fatalities, injuries and collisions.

“In 2020, city council approved our first transportation safety plan, with the primary goal of that project (being) to identify measures to move toward a goal of zero deaths in our transportation system by 2040,” said Ahmed Ali, traffic engineer and transportation planner with the City of Lethbridge.

The initiative will be split into three areas:

• Understanding and shifting the culture around road safety and behaviours;
• Developing yearlong safety campaigns; and
• Completing school travel plans at all elementary schools in the city.

“We do a lot of projects within our operating budget to improve roads. So, that’s engineering, and we continue to do that,” Ali said.

“But what we haven’t done much of is the area where we impact the road user behaviour, and this project is about that.”

The project will include school travel plans, which will see the city and school staff make site observations around school perimeters, at bus and parent drop-off zones and nearby crosswalks.

“(We’re) looking at major roadways. How can we ensure we have safe crossing sites? How can we make sure that our students and our families are talking about road safety? Those types of things,” said Meghan Calder, principal at Our Lady of the Assumption School.

“Teachers of especially younger students have always talked about road safety, pedestrian safety and bike safety in their classrooms, so I think it’s just nice to be able to now partner those messages with families and with the city and have everybody working together.”

Through the project, the city will collaborate with the Holy Spirit Catholic School Division, Lethbridge School Division, Alberta Health Services and the Alberta Motor Association.

“It is about the change within our community and the culture,” said Allison Purcell, school safety patrol co-ordinator with the AMA.

Once taught at school, Purcell hopes the travel plans will move from the classroom and schoolyard to the wider community.

“It’s planning our routes ahead of time when we’re going somewhere and we know the route we’re going to take and how we’re going to get there,” Purcell said.

“It’s an important task that people within our community need to make a priority.”

The project will wrap up by the end of the year, with the outcomes planned to be shared publicly in both English and French.

With a goal to increase safety, those involved hope the initiative will lead to more people taking part in physical movement to explore neighbourhoods throughout the city.

“Through these school walkabouts and stakeholder collaboration, we’re working to identify and remove barriers that prevent children from walking or biking to school,” said Amanda Hepp with AHS.

A community survey will be launched on May 15 to gather feedback from residents on road safety attitudes, knowledge and behaviours.

More information on the project can be found at https://getinvolvedlethbridge.ca/roadsafety.