Kitchener home to five of worst six places for collisions: report

Report shows worst places for crashes in region From CTV Kitchener's Virginia Wright: The region has released a report on its worst locations for collisions.

The Region of Waterloo has released its 2017 collision report, detailing the worst places for crashes around the region.

"The report will be tabled at committee on Tuesday, and councillors have a chance to discuss the contents of that report with me and then we'll have some dialogue," said Bob Henderson, manager of transportation engineering.

Last year, Waterloo Region saw 6,263 total collisions compared to 5,791 in 2016.

That number, however, was still fewer than each of the three years before at 6,319, 6,462 and 6,275 collisions from 2016 back to 2013, respectively.

The worst offender was Homer Watson Boulevard and Block Line Road with 85 collisions, however that number is fewer than each of the three prior years.

That intersection has seen 471 collisions in the last 5 years.

The report estimated the average annual excess social cost of collisions at that roundabout at $242,251, or more than $1.2 million over five years.

Kitchener was home to five of the six worst collision locations, and Cambridge claimed four of the top 10.

Waterloo's worst intersection for collisions ranked 19th in the region at Weber Street and University Avenue.

The region prefers not to rank intersections by the total number of crashes, but by “excess social cost.”

The worst 10 ranked by excess social cost is as follows:

Waterloo was responsible for just two of the worst 35 intersections in the region.

Regional council was scheduled to discuss these numbers at the Nov. 6 council meeting.

It is worth noting that the region analyzed Homer Watson Boulevard and Ottawa Street as an intersection since it was only turned into a roundabout in Oct. 2017.