A Vision Zero Strategy for Delta will be coming to council for consideration and adoption this year.
It was back in 2020 when council supported the development of a strategy, which has guiding principles of 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 hired a consultant and gathered community input in the process.
At a presentation to council last spring, Police Chief Neil Dubord described the next steps in the formulation of the plan.
Council was told that since 2016, on average, 22 people are killed or seriously injured on Delta roads.
Some of the other stats presented included 65 per cent of all collisions are 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.
The plan, which would prioritize high-crash locations, will have several elements from road design, speed reduction, enforcement and education.
Noting the city has already been undertaking safety enhancements though such initiatives as neighbourhood roads improvements projects, engineering director Steven Lan described some of the additional measures that can be undertaken, including updating neighbourhood traffic calming plans, installing speed humps and cushions around schools zones, as well as continuing to implement sidewalk projects and the cycling master plan.
He noted the city receives many requests for traffic calming measures such as speed humps, but the right solutions should be implemented for neighbourhoods in a data-driven plan.
At another presentation later in the year, Lan noted his department wants to find a new approach to neighbourhood traffic calming, adding they want to focus resources on high-traffic corridors where most serious accidents happen, part of the city’s evolving Vision Zero strategy.
Speeding and pedestrian safety are the primary complaints, although speed and traffic count monitoring reveals drivers are largely compliant in most cases.
“What we see based on the data, and this is police data, ICBC data, it’s on the major corridors. Particularly, it’s around arterial collector intersections. It’s not generally speaking in the neighbourhoods. It’s not on our local roads,” he said.
Saying the city has just under 100 requests for traffic calming each year, Lan noted responding to resident concerns is always a primary focus for the engineering and the police departments.
Concerns are also reviewed by a transportation and technical committee and will also be reviewed by a newly formed civic traffic committee. Data is also considered in the context of such initiatives as Vision Zero goals, as well as the city’s Cycling Master Plan, Slow Streets Pilot Program, safety studies and Walk to School routes.
Moving forward, to get broader community support, a neighbourhood traffic calming approach based on neighbourhood engagement, rather than individual complaints, will be explored.
Lan also noted current speed limits may not meet neighbourhod expectations, so a lower speed limit on streets may have to be considered.
Some areas already have reductions and there may be support for the speed limit of 50 km/h, even in areas that have already undergone traffic calming, to be reduced to 30 km/h in even more neighbourhoods, he said.
The city, meanwhile, will undertake additional traffic calming measures on Wade Road in North Delta in attempt to slow down traffic, while a series of additional traffic calming measures will be implemented along 10A Avenue in Tsawwassen.
In late 2023, the City of Delta also issued a request for bids for the construction of large-scale school zone traffic calming project.
The work will include, among other measures, installing speed humps, raised crosswalks and driver feedback signs in school zones throughout North Delta, Ladner and Tsawwassen.
