City-wide red light right turn ban creates ‘potential safety impacts’: Ottawa staff

A pitch to ban right turns on red lights in Ottawa did not get the go-ahead from city staff. CTV’s Dave Charbonneau reports.

City of Ottawa staff are hitting the brakes on the idea of a blanket ban on right turns at red lights at all intersections, saying it could create “potential safety impacts, concerns and increased traffic congestion.”

In response to an inquiry from Coun. Ariel Troster, staff said the city will implement right turn on red light restrictions at intersections on a “case-by-case basis,” looking at the design of the intersection, safety concerns, traffic flow and pedestrian and cyclist activity.

Troster suggested the city ban right turns on red lights in the downtown core after a cyclist was struck by a vehicle at the intersection of Elgin and Lisgar streets last July. Coun. Troster asked staff what barriers there are to implementing bans on right turns on red lights “more extensively.”

A total of 114 intersections across the City of Ottawa have right turn on red light restrictions for at least one approach, including 53 in the downtown core. A right turn on red restriction prohibits a driver from turning right at a signalized intersection on the red light.

In response to Troster’s inquiry, Public Works general manager Alain Gonthier said right turn on red restrictions are not implemented city-wide, “due to potential safety impacts, concerns and increased traffic congestion, as well as compliance and enforcement challenges.”

Gonthier provided several reasons why right turn on red light bans are not implemented network wide, including:

• “While right turn on red restrictions can reduce risks at one crosswalk, it may create new conflicts at another within the same intersection,” Gonthier writes. “Once the light turns green, drivers must watch for pedestrians and cyclists on the street they are turning on to. At intersections with heavy right turn volumes, delays increase because opportunities to turn during the red or other signal phases (e.g., concurrent left-turn phase) are removed.”
• Gonthier says there is an increased risk of “right hook collisions” in areas with bike lanes. “This happens because more drivers turning right during the green light phase will move through the same space as cyclists who are going straight through the intersection, at the same time,” he said.”
• “Right turn on red restrictions can increase vehicle queuing, which may lead to blocked intersections, potentially introducing other safety issues for pedestrians and cyclists crossing at other nearby signalized intersections,” he said.
• Gonthier said there is an increased risk of collisions if drivers choose to ignore right turn on red restrictions, especially at intersections with low pedestrian and cyclist volumes or low traffic volumes on crossing streets.
• “Enforcement resources and capacity are limited,” Gonthier said.

Gonthier says restrictions on right turns at red lights are considered on a case-by-case basis, based on safety concerns, the intersection design, visibility for drivers and pedestrian and cyclist activity.

Troster also asked staff if restricting right turns on red lights was standard for an intersection when installing pedestrian and cycling advances.

“Right turn on red restrictions are not standard practice when introducing leading pedestrian or leading bike intervals,” Gonthier said.

“There is potential for new safety risks, increased chances of conflicts with cyclists, possible increased queuing causing safety issues at nearby intersections, and challenges with driver compliance and enforcement. Each signalized intersection is reviewed individually using established criteria to ensure that any restriction would improve safety and reduce conflicts.”

According to statistics provided by Gonthier, less than 20 per cent of collisions involving cyclists and four per cent of collisions involving pedestrians at Ottawa intersections between 2019 and 2022 are related to right-turn movements.

“Collisions involving left turns and other manoeuvres are more common,” Gonthier said.

“As a result, right turn on red restrictions would not address the majority (approximately 90 per cent) of fatal and major injury collisions involving vulnerable road users.”

Gonthier said of the 12 right-turn collisions involving cyclists between 2019 and 2022, “none were directly related to right turn on red vehicle movements.”

“Three of these collisions involved cyclists riding illegally on the sidewalks or through crosswalks and colliding with right turning vehicles. A similar review of the five right-turn collisions involving pedestrians found that one of these collisions was directly related to right turn on red vehicle movements.”

Gonthier says the Road Safety Action Plan supports several initiatives to improve pedestrian and cycling safety in Ottawa, including a “proactive review of signalized intersections” annually to identify measures where measures such as right-turn-on-red restrictions and leading pedestrian intervals could be introduced.

“These reviews are conducted on a case-by-case basis using established road safety criteria to ensure that any changes provide a safety benefit and reduce conflicts.”

“Outdated” regulations

Troster told CTV News Ottawa she wanted to see if there was an appetite for a broader ban on right turns at red lights.

“It seems, according to staff, there wasn’t. I don/t think this issue is going to go away,” Troster said.

“I think it’s a real problem that the rules change from intersection to intersection downtown, and we have a lot of housing that’s going in with little or no parking and we’re asking people to use their feet and to use the bus and to use their bikes to get around.”

Troster said some road regulations are outdated.

“They’re really stuck in 50s and 60s standards, where the concern is how can I get that car through the intersection 30 seconds faster, and those 30 seconds could really make a difference to the life of a pedestrian,” the Somerset councillor said.

Coun. Tim Tierney, the chair of the public works and infrastructure committee, said the debate should be over on a possible blanket ban for right turns on red lights.

“It’s actually far more dangerous for pedestrians when you put a blanket policy of no right turns on red downtown,” Tierney said.

Tierney notes the city has a “good system” to implement right turns on red lights by evaluating it on a case-by-case with local councillors.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Dave Charbonneau

• Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App