City of St. Catharines to install long awaited pedestrian crosswalk on Geneva St. St. Catharines

Finally, some progress regarding the lack of safe accessibility in the Geneva St. Wood St. area of St. Catharines.
The city is installing an on-demand pedestrian crosswalk NORTH of Ted St. before Scott St. on Geneva St.
This is not my preferred location, as actual usage indicates the bulk of pedestrians, cyclists etc, are crossing between Ted St. and Grote St. Its the quickest route and avoids the unsafe traffic light at the entrance to the Fairview Mall. The St. Catharines Standard article (see photo) says,
"This intersection is a common spot for pedestrians to get hit by cars."

At least this new crosswalk is a start to a long haul advocating a safe environment for everyone who lives, works and uses the area surrounding and including the Fairview Mall Parking lot. I would like to see a CAUTION sign
"PEOPLE CROSSING". Think about it.
If there were this many deer crossing at this section of Geneva St. there would be a sign WARNING everyone that deer are crossing!!!
Lets do it for our community. Lets get a sign for pedestrians that cross at the most convenient and safe spot.

letter from accessibility coordinator City of St. Catharines

During previous discussions with Mr. Jacobson regarding installation of a pedestrian crossing on Geneva, improvements to the existing pedestrian crossing, alignment and sidewalk curb ramps at that signal located at Geneva / Fairview Mall were also reviewed. We both agree that improvements could be made at that location and that Mr. Jacobson will consider this aspect as well when planning pedestrian improvements in that area.

Further to the report to Council on February 1st that Mr. Jacobson sent to you, Council also recommended that Fairview Mall should be contacted and encouraged to ‘improve the walkable connections within the mall property’. Your advocacy on this issue, along with other expertise will further support this action.

Thank you.

Diana Lecinski
Accessibility Coordinator
Chief Administrator's Office
City of St. Catharines
50 Church Street, P.O. Box 3012
St. Catharines, ON L2R 7C2
905-688-5601 #1510

Caution people crossing

If the City of St. Catharines is not willing to install a traffic light or crosswalk at Wood St. and Geneva St. the least they could do would be to post Caution signs like this. The installation of an on demand crossing light north of Ted St. on Geneva St. will at least slow traffic down a little, but most pedestrians will not walk that far out of their way to cross Geneva St.
and as the newspaper said, "The intersection (traffic lights for Fairview Mall on Geneva St.) is a common spot for
pedestrians to get hit by cars". Obviously not a safe way to access the Fairview Mall.

crosswalk Fairview Mall Geneva St. newspaper article

Finally we are getting somewhere. Council has decided to put a pedestrian crosswalk north of Ted St. on Geneva St. which is not really going to help the problems pedestrians have accessing Fairview Mall from Wood St. and Ted St.
The City's Accessability Coordinator says "Pedestrians can cross Geneva Street safely at the traffic light which is located a very short distance south of Wood Street at the Fairview Mall entrance." I disagreed and as you can see by the photo caption in this photo
"the intersection is a common spot for pedestrians to get hit by cars" just what I've been saying all along.
I say we need caution signs at Wood St. and Geneva St. as people will still attempt crossing at that point then going north of Ted St. to a crosswalk.
It's a start, but we need more.