Merivale High School – A Call to Address Safety on Merivale Road

Our mission at School Streets Ottawa is to have more students using travel modes that are active, safe, and sustainable. This means more student walking, biking or taking the school bus or public transit for all or part of their journey to and from school each day. For students at Merivale Highschool walking to school is particularly dangerous for the hundreds who cross Merivale Road at peak traffic levels, so we were saddened to hear a teenage boy was seriously injured on after being struck by a driver at Viewmount Drive and Merivale Road on October 16th.

We are glad to see a thoughtful and quick response from Councillors Sean Devine and Laine Johnson as Merivale Highschool serves the communities in their Wards. They invited key enablers in city staff and SSO to observe students arriving and leaving the school throughout the day to identify points that the city and school can action to make the trip to school safer for all.

During our observation period we witnessed five near vehicle-pedestrian collisions, the need to implement all ranges of safety measures cannot be understated. We recognize that many of the observed safety factors are attributed to behaviour on the part of all road users, to be hurried, to take shortcuts, and to take risks.  We however make the distinction that road users who impose the most harm carry the most responsibility, and that any solution must prioritize protection of pedestrians and cyclists given the vast risk and consequence disparity they face.  We recognize our proposed solutions may compromise the level of service to vehicular traffic; our report must be read with the context that congestion will continue to worsen unless the city funds long term Transportation Master Plan (TMP) policies to offer better public and active transportation options across the city.

Our report states observations and proposes solutions for the city leadership and staff to consider in making the intersection of Merivale Road and Viewmount Drive safe for Merivale High School students and the community.  We evaluate each proposed solution for its effectiveness to improving pedestrian and cyclist safety based on a precedent where known.

In summary, the city must implement a range of safety measures to improve safety for students at the intersection of Merivale Road and Viewmount Drive, it is at high volume intersections such as this where the city has an opportunity to meet its TMP policy priorities for making active transportation to school safe and convenient.