Funding will help create additional traffic safety measures in North Delta and the Tsawwassen First Nation.
The provincial government recently announced the latest recipients of Vision Zero road safety grants with the TFN receiving $20,000.
The grant will help fund the purchase and installation of two speed reader board signs and a speed reader mobile trailer, which will be placed at locations where speed has been identified as a concern, according to Fraser Health which also contributed towards the funding.
According to the health authority, the TFN lacks measures to curb increasing traffic and monitor impacts, lacking some crucial infrastructure to control speed.
The speed reader boards will be managed and maintained by the TFN’s Bylaw Enforcement and Public Works departments, while Delta Police will use the data and devices to monitor and include measures within the TFN Community Safety Strategy.
Other grants handed out include one outside Hellings Elementary in North Delta, where almost $12,000 will be directed towards the purchase of rectangular rapid flashing beacons to reduce risks at drop-off and pick-up times around the school.
Vision Zero is a community-based grant program. Grants are provided by the province through the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. Additional funding top-ups were provided by the regional health authorities.
Meanwhile, the City of Delta is currently working on its own Vision Zero Strategy with a set of final recommendations to come to council this year.
The traffic safety strategy will be aimed at reducing fatalities and serious collisions, improving connections to schools and community services, as well as addressing needs for older adults and vulnerable road users.
The city had hired a consultant and gathered community input as the plan was being formed.
The plan, which will prioritize high-crash locations, will have several elements from road design, speed reduction, enforcement and education.
Delta Police Chief Neil Dubord made a presentation to council last year in an update on the ongoing work, noting that since 2016, on average, 22 people are killed or seriously injured on Delta roads.
Some of the other stats included 65 per cent of all collisions occurring at intersections while heavy trucks, despite accounting for just three per cent of vehicular traffic, account for 12 per cent of accidents involving someone being killed or seriously injured.
