Ottawa councillor, organizations push for change at Merivale Road intersection

An Ottawa councillor and local organizations are pushing for changes at a west end intersection, one week after a Merivale High School student sustained serious injuries when he was struck by a vehicle while crossing the intersection near the school.

"It’s horrible what happened and hopefully by being here, we can make some changes so that kind of thing doesn’t happen," Coun. Sean Devine said.

Devine and School Streets Ottawa spent Thursday observing the intersection of Merivale Road and Viewmount Drive, looking for ideas to make it safer for students.

"It’s a five-lane corridor and kids are having to scramble their way across to get to school," said Chris Hircock, with School Streets Ottawa. 

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Grade 12 student Kayleigh Vitols-Mackay says impatient drivers and drivers not paying attention are causing one too many close calls on the road. 

"A lot of the time even though pedestrians have the right of way they just go without any regard, so you have to check twice to make sure people are actually stopping," Vitols-MacKay said. 

A couple of hours into the day’s observations and the city already made a change to the lights, giving pedestrians a head start before traffic receive the green light to go ahead.

While it is a start, Hircock says there is still more that can be done. 

"It’s making improvements from the small things to the big things so students can get to school safely," Hircock said. 

Other ideas include not allowing drivers to turn right on red, moving bus stops to give drivers a better view and adding a cross walk closer to the school. 

They’re solutions that could help in other areas of concern like St. Joseph Catholic High School, where there have been at least three incidents involving pedestrians in the past year. 

"We are looking for better solutions and hard solutions that the city needs to take on so kids can have a safe, convenient walk to school," Hircock said. 

With safety top of mind, hoping more changes are coming down the road.