Death of elderly pedestrian at Windsor intersection renews focus on Vision Zero action plan

Three years after Windsor city council threw its support behind Vision Zero, people who work near an intersection where a 79-year-old pedestrian was killed say the incident is a reminder of the need for the city to move ahead with an action plan as soon as possible.

Vision Zero is a strategy that aims to eliminate all road fatalities and injuries by redefining traffic deaths as "preventable" rather than "inevitable." It was first implemented in Sweden in the 1990s before being adopted by other cities around the world.

Through this approach, cities which adopt Vision Zero policies are encouraged to redesign their infrastructure to keep drivers, pedestrians and cyclists safe while sharing the road with one another.

In 2019, Windsor city council greenlit administration to put together an action plan for a local Vision Zero strategy.

"We were all encouraged when a local Vision Zero strategy was talked about but we haven't seen any action yet," said Diane Beck who owns a shop near the corner of Wyandotte Street East and Pillette Road.

It was that intersection where — on Dec. 10 — a 79-year-old pedestrian was fatally struck by an SUV that was attempting to make a turn, according to Windsor police.

"I think this is a prime example ... that we need to move on [implementing Vision Zero] quickly," added Beck.

According to the city's executive director of operations Shawna Boakes, the work of putting together a Vision Zero action plan remains in process — but a final draft is expected to be presented to council "within the next month or two."

"There's quite a bit of work that goes into it," said Boakes.

Throughout the past few years, she said, administration has been engaging in discussions with community stakeholders and city departments — such as transportation planning, traffic operations, transit and emergency services — to get their input on what a Vision Zero action plan would look like for Windsor.

"We look at how we could implement their ideas and the benefits we see for them," said Boakes.

"We also look at accident incident data on an ongoing basis, not just for Vision Zero, but for a lot of the decisions we make within the traffic and transportation departments."

Boakes added these ongoing discussions are necessary since research can be conflicting on the benefits of individual safety measures, such as radar speed monitors, crosswalk countdowns and speed limit reductions.

"We have short-term, medium-term and long-term goals within the action plan. Some things are easy to do and may not require a lot of budget or are things we're already doing," she said.

"Other goals are five-year or ten-year goals that require a bit more budget or a little bit more planning in order to really be able to implement ... We're going to try and follow the plan as much as possible.

For Beck, speed bumps and "no turn on red" signs need to be installed at Wyandotte and Pillette to prevent more people from dying at the intersection of Wyandotte and Pillette.

"We have people that just go around the corner without even stopping or paying attention to the traffic lights. This seems to be a drag strip for many cars," said Beck who has owned and operated her nearby store for the past five years.

"There have been a lot of problems at this intersection with cars going through windows of establishments here. I think there's been about four incidents since I've been here."

Voila Koufalis, owner of Louis Restaurant on Wyandotte Street East since 1975, said she has seen "a lot of accidents" at the intersection.

"Maybe once a month or so. The worst we saw was Saturday [Dec. 10]," said Koufalis.

A progress report showing many of the recommendations being considered for Windsor's Vision Zero action plan is available on the city's website.