‘Like taking my life in my hands’: northeast seniors home residents call for crosswalk

Residents of a northeast Calgary seniors' home say crossing the road nearby, with no crosswalk and many large trucks, feels like a potentially deadly risk.

Residents of a northeast Calgary seniors home say crossing a nearby road nearby feels so dangerous they had to organize a protest to get their concerns across to the city.

There’s no crosswalk at the intersection and they say large trucks drive at high speeds.

About two dozen residents of Silvera Vista seniors home gathered by the roadside Friday waving hand-made placards, demanding a crosswalk a new bus stop location, and traffic lights.

No signs

39th Avenue and 26 Street N.E. are unmarked.

No matter which direction residents want to cross, there aren’t any signs for traffic to slow down.

“I organized this rally for the safety of these people trying to cross four lanes of traffic,” said Warren Freeborn, resident and rally organizer.

He says residents using walkers and mobility scooters especially struggle to catch the bus without a stop along 39 Avenue.

They have to walk down to 37 Avenue, following a route with no sidewalk that forces some of them into the road.

“Crossing this road was like taking my life in my hands,” said Karla Wallington, who opted for a motorized mobility scooter out of concern for crossing the nearby intersection.

She later added, “I’ve been almost hit at least twice.”

Debra Jones says she feels shuffled aside.

“We’re all at risk and I want the city to hear us. We count too,” she said.

Ward 10 Councillor Andre Chabot met with residents a year and a half ago, and told CTV News that the nearby mosque and school have made similar requests for the area.

City of Calgary responds

In an e-mailed statement to CTV News The City of Calgary responded with the following statement:

“As part of our standard practice, (our) mobility (department) will be performing a safety and engineering assessment from a corridor perspective, including working with Calgary Transit on reviewing routes and stop locations along 26th Street and 39th Avenue NE.

“This approach will look at more holistic way to address the residents’ concerns, and the safety needs of the community.”

The city did not provide a timeline.

Freeborn says he was given a rough estimate of the city’s costs to make the changes to the bus route and bus stop at $1.4 million.

“Is that a price they put on a life?” he asked.

The City of Calgary also said:

“Over the past 10 years, The City of Calgary has received five requests through 311 for crosswalks or traffic controls to be installed at locations within 100 metres of 39th Avenue and 26th Street NE.

“There have been two additional similar 311 requests from Silvera For Seniors - Vista Apartments at 2622 39th Avenue N.E.

There have been two recorded pedestrian-involved collisions in the past decade and neither resulted in injuries that required hospitalization."

The city says the first step for any request for transit or mobility improvements is to reach out to 311.

“The other method is through the Calgary Transit website. On the “Contact Us” page on calgarytransit.com, there is a section to provide feedback online, and from there they can submit a Bus Stop Service Request.

“In both cases, the feedback will be directed through the appropriate channels to the right person for review.”

-30-