Public statements from other supporters
- vijay Grey supports this.
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Barbara Turner says,
It seems to me that in matters like this, form should follow function. Right now, many, many people are crossing Aberdeen at Kent, because it's so far to the other crosswalks. I see them crossing by day and by night, and it's a dangerous crossing, because the cars are going so fast on that arterial(I suppose a subsidiary benefit would be that cars would have to slow down). Creating an official crosswalk there (though not, perhaps a stoplight) would make this a safer area for pedestrians and drives alike.
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Michael G. Vesselago, M.D. says,
My concern is that many people, including children on their way to and from school, cross at Kent regardless of the absence of a light or crosswalk and the presence of both at Queen and Dundern.
As traffic increases on Aberdeen, the risk of a pedestrian injury or fatality increases also.
In my opinion a crosswalk with overhead suspended flashing yellow light would be a considerable improvement.
An on-demand traffic-light would be worth considering to minimize the number of interruptions of traffic relative to installing a continuous cycle traffic light.
As a physician concerned with the health of my neighborhood, I would urge a thorough consideration of the situation and appropriate action.
Sincerely yours,
Michael G. Vesselago, M.D.
- carolyn lehmann supports this.
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Paul Sousa says,
The quality of life in Hamilton is severely restricted by its current walkability issues. The needs of vehicular traffic flow should not be the only consideration when planning our urban streets. If we really want to be the best place to raise a child then that child and his/her parents must feel comfortable with the type of environment they will be walking/playing in.
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Craig Burley says,
I live in Ainslie Wood; I like to take Aberdeen to get to downtown, a much more pleasant walk or bike ride.
This will improve safety.
- Darren Widenmaier supports this.
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Paul Elia says,
Hamilton has a long way to go towards making itself a pedestrian-safe and friendly environment. Most notably the width of sidewalks, lack of traffic calming measures and high-speed traffic cutting through dense urban and residential neighbourhoods.
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Derek Sahota says,
I moved from the suburbs of Vancouver to buy a home in Ward 2 in 2008 and quickly realized that pedestrians in Hamilton are mere fodder in a real-life game of "Carmeggedon." In my first month here I was hit twice as a pedestrian in broad daylight in crosswalks, while I had the right of way. The response of the drivers was to insult me and blame me for them hitting me. After 3 years I can no longer count the number of times I've been sworn at, cursed and harassed as a pedestrian on Hamilton's streets.
The simple fact is that Hamilton's sidewalks and crosswalks are already deadly for pedestrians. The lack of appropriate crossings in many areas forces many pedestrians to jaywalk and put themselves in even more danger. The design of the roadways reinforces a speedway mentality amongst drivers and makes matters worse, not better.
If Hamilton is ever to become a great place to raise a child it must start to take the safety of its downtown residents seriously. Our streets need to be redesigned to ensure that pedestrians are safe and drivers more likely to pay attention.
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Kevin Carmona-Murphy says,
Although I am not a resident of the Kirkendall neighbourhood, I fully support the implementation of a pedestrian crosswalk at Kent and Aberdeen. As a cyclist who has travelled along Aberdeen before, I found it very difficult to find a gap in traffic along this stretch of road. For less able-bodied persons this could be more challenging, and very dangerous.
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Jason Morse says,
Any changes allowing safe pedestrian travel through the city will get my support. Inconveniences to drivers are minimal. The benefits to the immediate residential and business community far outweigh the few minutes or seconds added to a car trip.
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John Bassindale says,
I see the city taking some steps in the right direction with their walkability studies, but I also see the city ignoring the requests of citizens to make areas such as downtown ancaster, and downtown hamilton, more pedestrian friendly.
Help us build the kind of city we want by making the improvements that the RESIDENTS in the area want, rather than ignoring them in favour of the COMMUTERS or COMMERCIAL USERS who drive THROUGH the area, but would never live in an area with those conditions themselves.
Respect the Residents.
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Simon Salatandre says,
Everyone should abandon their cars, trucks, and SUVs, and take the time to walk. Even for just a few blocks. It's good exercise! =o)
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Eric Meek says,
Hamilton's commitment to drivers, at the expense of livability is absolutely disgraceful.
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Candace Hanson says,
I fully support anything that will increase the ease of being able to walk around in a city. I have chosen not to drive a car, ever, and have no plans to. I walk everywhere or take a bus if the desitination would be too far. I cannot count the number of times I have obeyed the traffic lights, crossed at a crosswalk, and taken proper steps to ensure my own safety crossing a street, only to have some jerk in a car nearly mow me down because they're in too much of a hurry/feel too superior to stop for 5 seconds and allow me to cross the street. Even on a red light, they feel it is their right to turn right, while the crosslight gives me the right of way, causing them either to stop suddenly because I'm right in front of their car and or they cut me off and zoom away. There are also the people turning, trying to cross the opposite lane of traffic, who, seeing a break in the traffic, immediately try to turn without checking for pedestrians and have to stop in traffic, obstructing the flow of said traffic because they couldn't be arsed to follow the traffic laws. Not only are they endangering my life by failing to follow simple laws but my infant daughter's life is at stake because these dumb-dumbs think that because they are in a deathtrap, it gives them free reign over any and all roadways! My body is not steel, I will not survive an impact from a ton of metal. Wake the hell up and realize that you are not all-important because you're in a metallic bubble.
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Davey Hamada says,
Because walkable communities are better communities.
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Abram Bergen says,
I participated both in the opening meeting for the Pedestrian Mobility Master Plan study and attended their PIC in Dundas recently. I have also been involved for some time in working to make Hamilton a more cycle-friendly city. And the two go entirely hand-in-hand--a pedestrian-friendly city is a cycle-friendly city and vice versa. Both have the goal of redesigning our urban spaces from a person's and community's viewpoint, rather than from an aerial viewpoint so common in modern architecture and urban design, to create a city where people come first and everything else flows from that.
A pedestrian and cycle-friendly city is a more liveable city in which life slows down a little towards a more human pace; where people are more active and therefore healthier; where people, no longer enclosed in metal boxes as much interact more with one another and form stronger communities; and where these stronger communities do business to create strong local economies. While it means slowing down a little, it by no means going backwards. Vehicles and technology have their place, but should be employed to help, not hamper, our well-being.
The time to act is right now, not merely as individual streets come due for re-construction over the next 20 years. As exemplified in various cities around the world, money spent on creating people-focused, pedestrian and cycle-friendly environments pays for itself very quickly. We need to take our time to study what others have done and what needs to be done here, but then those recommendations need to be binding and quickly implemented, not subject to long-term construction schedules onto which to tack recommended improvements, nor up to individual debate in council where individual councillors can interrupt things in their ward.
Here's to creating a strong, vibrant, liveable, pedestrian and cycle-friendly Hamilton!
- Christine Fandrich supports this.
- Doti Latimer supports this.
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Paul Vicari says,
As a resident near king and main st, its evident we desperately need to reverse the longtime one-way conversion and restore two-way streets. Just last week, a truck crashed through a storefront along king east. For pedestrians the roads aren't safe and unpleasant to walk on. LRTshould be a priority as well.
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Kathryn Wrong says,
My Hamilton is a walkable Hamilton!
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Josh Gordon says,
A walkable community is one of the first steps we can take to using less carbon for the fuel in our vehicles. If more people are walking in our neighbourhoods, they become safer neighbourhoods. I believe these walkable neighbourhoods also become a more desirable place to live and work.
- Todd Bulmer supports this.
- John Neary supports this.
- Justin Nusca supports this.
- Meredith Broughton supports this.
- Biljana Vasilevska supports this.
- Kendall Wilson supports this.
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Rhoda Hassmann says,
The city is now aware of how many people cross Aberdeen at Kent. I have seen mothers with small children do this, as well as children on their way to and from school. Meantime, there is more and more traffic on Aberdeen at Kent, as drivers come down from and access the mountain. Someone will be killed soon. When that happens, I hope the victim's survivors will have the sense to sue the city.
We've already seen a death of this kind. Some years ago a woman from Flatt Avenue was killed at Kent and Herkimer. Only after her death was a stop-sign installed. Is he city's policy to wait for a death before putting in lights or stop signs that local residents can see are necessary?
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