This is why the city installed an oversized pedestrian crossing button

A new pedestrian crossing beg button in Ottawa’s west end has a unique feature to improve accessibility. CTV’s Peter Szperling reports.

A pedestrian crossing button in west Ottawa has a unique feature: it’s physically longer than others in the city.

Located at a crossing on Centrepointe Drive, near Sir Guy Carleton Secondary School, the button is about a foot longer than the standard. The oversized button was designed to improve accessibility at the crossing for those who use mobility devices and was thought up by a group of students, says area Coun. Laine Johnson.

“It’s a great idea to try and make sure that everybody’s getting all the way across,” Johnson told CTV News.

The button was installed after a group of students identified the need while attending a workshop on safe pedestrian crossing earlier this fall.

“A solution, based on the presenting issue that was discovered through that user centered practice,” Johnson said.

The button sticks out to roughly line up with the curb, allowing all users to access it with ease.

“So just in case that they’re by themselves and trying to access the push button, we want to make sure that that is something that it can we can do it by themselves without assistance, from somebody else,” said John Wambombo, a Safer Roads Ottawa program coordinator.

Catherine Houlden, head of special education specialized programs at Sir Guy Carleton Secondary School, says the extended button “makes a lot of sense.”

“Because you can see there’s a curb with a lip which would not allow chairs or walkers to go close to the pole where the button is, so there needed to be an extension on it,” Houlden said.

Students who regularly cross the intersection say they like the new design.

“It’s easier to push the button for us to cross,” said Ashley, a student at the secondary school.

Coun. Johnson says since the installation a few days ago, there has been positive feedback.

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