City to create safer traffic zones for seniors

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand has announced a plan to create zones to improve the safety of senior pedestrians, vowing to make Quebec City the first Canadian city to do so.

Consultations are to begin in early December to help determine the specifics of the plan, inspired, the mayor said, by a successful program of this type in New York City.

According to a city document, the measures would see targeted intersections and pedestrian crossings “designed to optimize safety. Extending the duration of traffic lights, automatically triggering these lights and adding street furniture to meet the need for breaks are examples of measures that can be implemented.”

Other ideas include the addition of traffic islands in the centre of an intersection to provide pedestrians with a place to wait safely if they do not have time to cross the entire intersection. The city says such a system has reduced pedestrian deaths among seniors by 25 per cent in New York City.

The first senior-friendly traffic zones could be introduced in 2026.

An online information session on the plan is scheduled for Dec. 4, with discussion workshops planned for Jan. 20 online and Jan. 22 at the Club Social Victoria in Limoilou.