Nix Rawlins Cross roundabout, restore traffic lights, votes committee
Unorthodox traffic circle has seen drop in collisions but majority of pedestrians say they feel less safe
Despite a steep drop in collisions at Rawlins Cross, the St. John's committee of the whole has narrowly rejected a recommendation from city staff to make changes to the area permanent.
When intersections with street lights were reconfigured into a makeshift traffic circle in August 2018, the goal was to make traffic flow more smoothly at Rawlins Cross and make the area safer for drivers and pedestrians.
City staff say it worked on all counts. A report prepared for Wednesday's committee meeting notes that from January 2012 to August 2018, the area saw an average 1.85 collisions per month. Since the changes were implemented, the average number of accidents per month has been 0.875 — a drop of nearly 53 per cent.
Staff estimates the amount of traffic moving through Rawlins Cross has dropped slightly since the changes were implemented. With that factored in, the rate of collisions has dropped from 2.59 collisions per "million entering vehicles" to 1.4 — a decrease of 46 per cent.
And of the collisions that have occurred, staff noted the percentage of accidents resulting in injuries has dropped 25 per cent.
In a 5-4 vote, the committee rejected the recommendation to make the traffic circle permanent.
"We look at the data and the recommendation we are given but we have to balance that with what we hear from the public through the formal engagement process and the informal engagement process," said Mayor Danny Breen, who voted to reject the recommendation.
"From that, there were major themes that came through, and certainly the safety aspect for pedestrians is a major concern,"
People who have been fighting to put traffic lights back into the Rawlins Cross area said Wednesday they were surprised by the outcome of the vote.
"I was concerned that the concerns of pedestrians weren't being heard and weren't being given equal weight and I'm very pleased that pedestrians are being given equal consideration by members of the council," said St. John's resident Rhona Buchan.
The report notes that 54 per cent of pedestrians surveyed said they feel less safe travelling through the area.
The mayor said he voted against making the traffic circle permanent because he believes restoring traffic lights would be the best thing for pedestrian safety.
"I think the loss of the traffic lights is a major concern. You can slow down traffic, you can reroute it, but sometimes you have to stop it just to make sure that people can cross safely. And this is I believe on of those areas," said Breen.
But traffic lights aren't being turned back on just yet. Two councillors weren't at Wednesday morning's committee meeting, and the recommendation faces a final vote at Monday's regular city council meeting.