Dangerous drives in Guelph
Posted Aug 23, 2010 03:53:31 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A Guelph intersection has the distinction of being the city’s most dangerous for the second straight year. A report being presented to the city’s Operations Committee today shows there were 18 crashes at the corner of Speedvale Avenue and Stevenson Street last year, eight more than the next most dangerous intersection at Silvercreek Parkway and Greengate Road.
Improvements are already underway at Speedvale and Stevenson, says Allister McIlveen, Guelph’s Manager of Traffic and Parking. “One of the important pieces is that we’re providing separate left-turn lanes on all four legs. We’re also doing curb base improvements, which feeds into the capital program.”
Overall, the crash rate in Guelph dipped for the fifth time in six years. The city recorded a total of 1136 crashes last year, down from 1281 in 2008, a decrease of 11%.
McIlveen tells 570 News the overall decrease in crashes is in keeping with the objectives outlined in the city’s strategic plan. “Try to make Guelph (and the) road system as safe as possible,” McIlveen explains. “So it certainly is a result we’re very, very proud of and we hope it continues on. But we (also) understand that at some point it will flatten out.”
There was also a drastic decrease in the number of collisions involving cyclists, and again, McIlveen points to planning as the underlying factor. The report shows there were 26 vehicle-cyclist collisions in 2009, down from 43 in 2008, a decrease of 40%. “The city of Guelph is quite proactive in providing both on-street and off-street bicycle facilities while also doing quite a lot of education and working for the Bicycle Master Plan,” McIlveen says.
Crashes involving injury dropped by 8% while crashes involving pedestrians were down 3%. There were four fatal crashes in Guelph last year after the city recorded no fatal collisions in 2008. Alcohol-related crashes were up marginally from 2008 to 2009, showing an increase of 0.3%. The report says that slight increase “still reflects positively in the promotional campaigns to not drink and drive and have designated drivers when you are out socially.”
The ten most dangerous intersections in Guelph last year were:
1) Speedvale at Stevenson (18 collisions, also ranked first in 2008)
2) Silvercreek at Greengate (10 collisions, also ranked second in 2008)
3) Edinburgh at Wellington (16 collisions, also ranked third in 2008)
4) Victoria at Arkell (5 collisions, not ranked in 2008)
5) Gordon at Stone (16 collisions, also ranked fifth in 2008)
6) Chancellors Way at Stone (8 collisions, not ranked in 2008)
7) Speedvale at Silvercreek (11 collisions, ranked 9th in 2008)
8) Stone at Edinburgh (15 collisions, ranked 7th in 2008)
9) Woodlawn at Inverness (5 collisions, not ranked in 2008)
10) College and Janefield (5 collisions, ranked 14th in 2008)
To read the entire report, follow this link and read from Page 26 of the agenda.
