Traffic Signal Amendment — 53rd & Main
Motion 3 · Council Meeting, July 16, 2026
Summary
- Amends the capital plan to direct staff to prioritize investigation and installation of a traffic signal or pedestrian crossing improvement at 53rd Avenue and Main Street.
- Rationale: the new Sunset Senior Centre has opened nearby, significantly increasing pedestrian traffic, particularly seniors and people with mobility challenges, crossing a busy arterial with no signal or marked crosswalk.
- Engineering confirmed hundreds of signal requests are queued citywide; this amendment signals Council's priority for this specific location given the changed conditions.
- MLA Sunita Dheer's advocacy and multiple councillor meetings with engineering staff were noted as background.
Vote
Transcript
6 segments
Seconded by Councillor Kerbion, I think. Thanks. Okay, thanks. So, yeah, I think it's just an amendment to include an important safety improvement initiative in this capital plan and the installation of a new traffic signal on the pedestrian crossing at 53rd Avenue on Main Street. I've been in conversation with MLA Sunita Deer and also, as we heard from today's committee leader, Bob Winder, and many residents in this area. Also, I had a couple of meetings with Long and Paul from our engineering department about this matter already. We all know the intersection serves the Sunset Committee Center, where a new senior center has been already completed. It will attract many more seniors and visitors to this area. And as the usage of this site increases, it is critical that we provide safe and accessible ways for people to cross Main Street, which I witnessed so many cars driving really fast in this particular intersection. So currently, there's no traffic light or even flashing beacon at this location. It creates some challenges and safety concerns for pedestrians, particularly for the seniors and people with mobility challenges, families, kids, and anyone who needs more time to cross the busy Tierra Road intersection. Investing in this crossing is about more than traffic management. It's about making sure our infrastructure keeps pace with the needs of our growing community. It will improve accessibility, enhance safety, and help ensure everyone can access new senior centers with confidence. So I really hope my colleagues will support this to be included in this capital plan. And I believe it's a meaningful difference for the Sunset neighborhood and everyone who use this important community hub. I know we have already a funding envelope for road safety. So this amendment is just to prioritize these specific areas near the Sunset Community Center and the Senior Center because of this new facility there. So that's all my amendment. Thanks, Chair. Thanks very much, Councillor Kerbio.
Yeah, thanks. I asked about this during questions because it's been dicey there for a while. I had the pleasure, and I know we had Bob Wenderspeak earlier from the Sunset Community Association being the part board liaison to Sunset. in my time in Park Board some years ago, and it was always dicey sort of getting to that side of the road if you were on the other one. And now we've just completed and opened the brand new Sunset Senior Center, which is already packed and full. I've been by there a few times. It's great to see how much the seniors are loving and enjoying it. but it is not it doesn't have safe access and it is far enough down I think from through the main tributary at 49th that it generally does warrant I think this prioritization and sort of addressing the challenge of the issues there have been additional improvements that have been made such as upgrading the park weapon there was outdoor seating that was put in there in consultation with the community for a number of members. It really is a very highly used park in the area, and it's one that the majority of people walk to it. There's a lot of people that will walk in from their community and go on a regular basis. So I'd like to have some comfort that some of the vulnerable members of our community are well taken care of. This is something that has been brought up. I'm happy to send that signal and support it. It was assuring to hear from our head of engineering and streets that they were intending to look at it. So I think that this is important to send the signal that we do see a safety issue here. And I think that's always, it's always important to kind of send that assurance to the community. Thank you.
Thanks very much.
Councillor Blighthe. Yeah, thanks very much. I just have a point of information through you, Chair, to Lon.
And I appreciate and kudos to Sunita Deer, MLA Sunita Deer, for her advocacy on this. I think I met with Lon and Paul to discuss this crosswalk. signal uh maybe even in february and my recollection so i'm just asking for your clarification is that this is slated for 2027 q1 of 2027 um but i also recognize that 49th in maine 50th in maine uh 52nd in maine which has a light i believe and then now this is 53rd so What's in the plan already? Because I know it's already sort of identified as a priority, as I say, for Q1 2027, and I support this fully, but I just want to be clear on what I'm voting on.
Can we have the mic on, please? Yes, so we generally have hundreds of requests for traffic signals across the city, and in response to those requests, we do investigations, and those investigations consider all of the factors of safety, including special generators like senior centers or schools and things like that. What's new about this location, I would say, is that the change is relatively recent, and I don't think we have updated studies. It may change its priority in terms of the investments that we'll put there. But at this point, yeah, I don't exactly know exactly when any changes would come. Okay. Is there a way just to provide, even after this, a memo or update? Because as I say... Yeah, I'm checking with my team right now. Okay, well, there's more people on the queue. If I can get that information back, it'd be great. For now, I'll leave it. I mean, I'm supportive of this, but as you can probably hear, there's a number of conversations and meetings ongoing, again, related to MLA Deer's outreach, and I think it is correct that that particular street does need a focus sort of action to... increase safety and eliminate risk or at least reduce risk. So I'm supportive of this, but I'd like to see how it factors into what's already slated and whether or not this is in addition to or instead of. And so I'll be waiting to get that information back as soon as possible. Thank you.
Thanks very much. Councillor Meiszner. Yeah, thanks. Just want to add my voice to this. I'm very supportive of this amendment. And I think as we just heard from our Our GM of engineering, there is no specificity on the timing currently. So I do think that necessitates urgent action, which I think this amendment will accomplish and help move forward. Many of us were at the Canada Day celebration, and I witnessed many people trying to cross the street there. And there is no marked crosswalk or signal and is extremely dangerous. And I also have noticed with the new senior center up and running that there are more pedestrians trying to get there and also people taking chances with that very, very busy main street. So I just want to say I'm in strong support of this amendment and I really appreciate Councillor Zhou for bringing it forward as I know we've all been speaking with the community around their concerns around it. Thank you.
Thanks, Councillor. I'll just remark that I am also going to be very supportive of this. And again, this is a prioritization. Oh, you're asking me. I have to cede the chair. Cede the chair to Deputy Mayor Kirby Young. Thanks very much.
Just noting that in our attempts to become a more age-friendly city, that the establishment of the Senior Center at Sunset as a fantastic new amenity for the community should be combined with the tools that we need to make sure that people are safe when they're coming to and from that very center. I think all of us have seen that there is quite a bit of traffic on Main Street in that area. And having a crossing signal would allow a big part of the neighborhood to get there a lot more safely. So thanks very much. And with that, I'll take the chair back and we'll go to the vote.
Thank you, please, clerk.