Calgary's Pedestrian Puzzle: Unpacking Crosswalk Data as Fatalities Mount
Have you noticed how easy it is to spot crosswalks around town? People are talking about the importance of these safe spots for pedestrians. Where's your favorite one?
Calgary, a city often praised for its vibrancy, is grappling with a stark reality on its streets: the escalating danger for pedestrians. While the City of Calgary offers a treasure trove of information through its Open Data initiative, including a specific "Crosswalk Locations" dataset, understanding these data points becomes critically urgent in light of a disturbing trend of pedestrian fatalities. The data, freely accessible on data.calgary.ca under the "Health and Safety" category, allows Calgarians to visually locate crosswalks and even delve into detailed pedestrian counts via the Calgary Traffic Count System (CalTRACS).
The Grim Statistics on Calgary's Streets
The numbers paint a sobering picture. 2024 saw 13 pedestrian deaths on Calgary roads, a distressing 225 percent year-over-year increase from the four deaths recorded in 2023, marking a ten-year high. This tragic upward trajectory continued into 2025, with 15 pedestrian fatalities among 38 fatal collisions by December 20. Beyond the ultimate cost, the daily inconvenience and potential for danger are also deeply felt; one resident reported frustratingly long waits of "7 minutes and it's been as long as 11 minutes" at a pedestrian-activated crosswalk near a school, underscoring systemic issues in pedestrian mobility.
In Alberta, the legal framework is clear: pedestrians generally hold the right-of-way at all intersections and designated crosswalks, unless traffic signals or a police officer dictate otherwise. The Alberta Traffic Safety Act, specifically Section 41(1), mandates that drivers must yield to pedestrians within a crosswalk. The City of Calgary has its own policies, like the Neighbourhood Streets Policy, approved in July 2022, which aims to guide the engineering design for safer community streets, including crosswalks. Enhancements range from marked crosswalks, unmarked intersections, to those with pedestrian-activated lights like Overhead Flashers and Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs). These improvements are implemented through ongoing programs and capital projects, with evaluations factoring in pedestrian crossing volumes and proximity to other traffic controls.
When Policy Meets Pavement: Community Frustration
Despite these frameworks, the path to safer pedestrian infrastructure isn't always smooth. The experience of the West Hillhurst Community Association (WHCA) highlights this tension. In 2021, the community expressed significant disappointment when a developer's promise for enhanced pedestrian safety infrastructure at 19 Street and 2 Avenue NW – including an RRFB, traffic calming, and a laddered crosswalk – failed to materialize. Janice Paskey, a WHCA volunteer, recounted thinking, "'that's fantastic, a flashing beacon crosswalk. People are going to see the kids crossing there because it's very close to the elementary and high school.'" However, the City's Transportation Department ultimately determined the location did not meet the stringent criteria for an RRFB, guided by the Transportation Association of Canada's (TAC) Pedestrian Crossing Control Guide (3rd Edition).
This episode in West Hillhurst illustrates the complex balance Calgary faces. While data and rigorous guidelines, like the TAC Guide, are crucial for making informed, consistent decisions about where and how to implement pedestrian safety enhancements, they can sometimes clash with the immediate, lived concerns and expectations of a community. As our city continues to grow and evolve, understanding the locations of our crosswalks through readily available data is only the first step. The ongoing challenge lies in translating that data, alongside community advocacy and robust policy, into genuinely safer, more accessible journeys for every Calgarian navigating our vibrant but increasingly perilous streets.
