The Society solicited the input of municipal election candidates with respect to their commitment to crosswalk and road safety.   Following are two questions asked and the verbatim responses of those who replied.   

1.    Do you believe HRM crosswalks are ‘safe enough’?  If your answer is ‘no’ what would you propose / support in order to make them safer?  Are you prepared to increase budgets for improved crosswalk safety?

2.    Do you believe HRM’s Strategic Road Safety Framework is appropriate, i.e. will be effective at reducing road fatalities and injuries in HRM?  If not what would you do to make it so?



Mayor

Mike Savage

Did not respond to questions.


District 1

Cathy Deagle Gammon

Did not respond to the questions.


District 2

David Hendsbee

1.  No.

We Need to Have more flashing beacon lights at all high frequency intersections,
Also Have in-street centre line warning signage in all crosswalks.
Plus Support and promote the pedestrian flag program.
And we need to have the final authorization fir crosswalk installation on any rural provincial roadways.

2.    Advocate our municipal & provincial traffic authorities to implement a rationalized speed limit grid on our streets to help reduce injuries and fatalities.

All local subdivision streets should be posted at 40kms/hr limit.  All school zones be set at 30 Kms/hr.

And the urban collector roadways should be no higher than 50 Kms.  Rural collector roadways should be posted at 60 Kms/hr.  Only in uninhabited rural areas the speed limit should be 70 Kms. 


District 3

Becky Kent

1.   I believe that some crosswalks are safer than others.  We are now at a critical point for unsafe roads and some crosswalks absolutely need safer conditions.  Many that I refer to are on streets that have excessive speeding on them.  They are often on streets, within subdivisions where traffic unrelated to the homes in these areas, are being used as short cuts or routes to avoid heavy traffic congestion. I am prepared to consider all mechanisms to improve crosswalk safety, including budget increases.

2.  I do not believe that the Framework is appropriate at this point. I believe it need to be reviewed and challenged to have more streets being addressed are urgent for traffic calming measures. 


District 4

Trish Purdy

Did not respond to the questions. 


District 5

Sam Austin

Did not respond to the questions.


District 6

Tony Mancini

Did not respond to the questions.


District 7

Waye Mason

1.  No,

 we need to completely develop and roll out the Strategic Road Safety plan with vision zero at its heart. I am support continued increase to project budgets to incorporate crosswalk safety improvements in integrated plans for complete streets and road safety..

2.  Yes, though it needs to be fully rolled out.  We’ve seen significant gains and I’d like to double those gains over the next 3-5 years.



District 8

Lindell Smith

Did not respond to the questions.


District 9

Shawn Cleary

1.  No; fully develop the Strategic Road Safety plan, embrace vision zero.  Yes.

2.  When fully developed.  We’ve already cut in half the number of vehicle-pedestrian collisions and reduced the number of pedestrian deaths compared to the years before I was elected. I’d like to see that cut in half again over the next four years.


District 10

Kathyrn Morse

Did not respond to the questions.


District 11

Patty Cuttell

1.  No. As a candidate I have had the privilege of touring my district and talking to people about local issues. By far, one of the biggest issues is speeding and pedestrian safety. HRM crosswalks are not safe enough. After observing several problem crosswalks, I can unequivocally say that HRM must invest more in crosswalk safety. There are so many things that can be done to not only improve crosswalk safety, but also add fun and beautification to our neighbourhoods. And I believe we should not approve another development in Halifax without requiring slow street design be part of the project. It is a lot more cost effective to build pedestrian safety into new development than it is to retrofit them. There are also a number of high priority crosswalks that need improvement. Action should be taken immediately to remedy them. And slow street standards should be developed for the entire municipality, so when recapitalization happens, slow street elements can be added where needed. 

2.  Well, one thing — a framework won’t help if nothing gets implemented. Many of these things need immediate action. Let’s get going with the low-hang fruit while we work out some of the bigger issues. Analysis paralysis has plagued this initiative. We need to start acting and making sure resources are targeted to hotspots around the regional municipality. 


District 12

Iona Stoddard

Did not respond to the questions.


District 13

Pam Lovelace


1.   No, crosswalks are not safe enough. The low standards for pedestrian safety in HRM result in some school zones not even having a crosswalk. I’m in favour of implementing Vision Zero in HRM. It’s time to make injury prevention a priority.   

2.  No, it’s not enough. I am in favour of implementing Vision Zero in HRM. 


District 14

Lisa Blackburn

Did not respond to questions.


District 15

Paul Russell

Did not respond to questions.


District 16

Tim Outhit

Acclaimed - questions not asked.