The City of North Vancouver seeks to reduce vehicle travel speeds to improve neighbourhood safety and livability. The project will include corridor improvements at higher-risk locations to minimize the chance of vulnerable road users being killed or seriously injured, an education program for new drivers that are at higher risk to vulnerable road users, policy development for improved road safety of all road users, and a monitoring plan for ongoing evaluation of programs, policies, and infrastructure.

Goals:

• Improve safety for vulnerable road users (pedestrians and cyclists).
• Increase active transportation mode share.

This project will combine infrastructure improvements with educational programs to create an impact. More specifically, the following projects will be undertaken.

• Road safety infrastructure to reduce vehicle speeds. The City will apply part of this funding towards delivering a range of road safety infrastructure to reduce vehicle speeds in locations that see higher speeds today, with higher volumes of vulnerable road users (near parks, schools, or on the City’s mobility lane network). Traffic calming infrastructure could take the form of raised crosswalks, speed bumps, or other interventions, primarily reducing vehicle speeds and increasing the modal split of active travel in the City.
  

• Education on independent and sustainable mobility. The City will apply the other part of this funding to engage with the City’s youth community, providing education on independent sustainable travel choices, which will also relate to road safety considerations. This engagement opportunity will focus on both elementary and secondary school students (grades 6-7 and 10-12), to develop skills related to active and sustainable travel and to inform students of the opportunity and importance of these modes to travel independently without the need to rely on a vehicle. There will be an indirect relation to safe driving via safe travel for all people using our streets.
  

• Monitoring and evaluation will exist once these items are implemented, both for the purposes of reporting out to VCH on the near-term effectiveness within the grant and program life cycle but also in an ongoing way to inform future infrastructure and education programs that the City undertakes in its ongoing commitment towards Vision Zero.

Photo source: Pexels. Photo is shown for illustration purposes only and may not be an accurate representation of the project.