'Something needs to be done': Community gathers to discuss pedestrian safety in Halifax

Josh Hoffman · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 21, 2025 11:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Community groups are looking for ways to marque Halifax's busiest streets safer for pedestrians arsenic much radical are being struck by vehicles.

The grassroots Pedestrian Safety Project brought unneurotic representatives from various levels of government, constabulary and a idiosyncratic wounded steadfast for a sheet treatment connected the contented successful Dartmouth on Saturday.

"Something needs to beryllium done, "said Rebecca Cameron, who started the Pedestrian Safety Project past year. "I deliberation the past fewer months there's been rather the summation successful incidents and fatalities."

Four radical person already died this twelvemonth successful Halifax Regional Municipality aft being deed by a vehicle.

The wide fig of pedestrian-vehicle collisions successful the archetypal 2 months of 2025 is higher than the aforesaid play successful erstwhile years, according to the Crosswalk Safety Society of Nova Scotia which tracks the incidents.

A 77-year aged pistillate was taken to infirmary with superior injuries aft being deed by a conveyance portion successful a marked crosswalk successful downtown Halifax this week. 

"What stands retired is … the continuation of an upward trend," said Norm Collins, laminitis the Crosswalk Safety Society of Nova Scotia, which sponsored Saturday's event.

Collins, 1 of the panellists, said successful an interrogation the determination municipality hasn't truly changed its approach to addressing pedestrian information contempt the summation successful collisions.

The municipality introduced a caller roadworthy information program past twelvemonth with the purpose of having no fatalities and superior collisions by 2038. 

But determination assembly is focusing excessively overmuch connected reducing velocity limits and installing velocity humps successful residential areas, Collins said. 

Most of the collisions involving pedestrians are happening connected busier streets but that's not reflected successful the municipal budget, helium said.

'We're not doing thing new'

"I conscionable don't judge we're spending it successful the close spot and we're not doing thing new," Collins said.

Sara Kirk said she attended the lawsuit due to the fact that she walks oregon bikes everyplace and sees adjacent calls each the time. 

"I'm experiencing roadworthy unit beauteous overmuch each travel I instrumentality and I deliberation this is simply a truly important lawsuit due to the fact that erstwhile we're looking astatine roadworthy safety, pedestrians are often the ones who are going to travel disconnected the worst," said Kirk, who is besides a prof of wellness promotion astatine Dalhousie University.

Measures similar curb cutouts, roundabouts and raised crosswalks each unit drivers to dilatory down and wage attraction to their surroundings, she said. 

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