Advocate calls for speed traps at site of crosswalk fatality

A longtime community advocate says safety must be improved on the section of Main Street where a man in his 60s was hit by a truck Friday and later died.

In a video of the crash obtained by the Free Press, the man, who hasn’t been identified, crosses at a crosswalk at Main Street and Jarvis Avenue at around 7:45 p.m. He was walking across the southbound lanes toward Austin Street North, as signals flashed overhead. When he reaches the northbound lanes of Main Street, he’s hit by a pickup truck and slides down the rain-slicked street for several metres. He died in hospital.

“It’s a death that shouldn’t have happened,” said Sel Burrows, a longtime community leader and founder of a crime hotline in the area.

Burrows said the location has been a problem “for many, many years.”

He said that generally speaking, some northbound drivers accelerate after emerging from the rail underpass on Main Street as they head toward Jarvis Avenue.

In the video, the crosswalk lights on the southbound side are flashing after the man is hit.

Traffic continues and the pickup driver pulls over. Police said the driver remained on the scene.

Burrows said it’s frustrating the collision occurred while a pedestrian was in the crosswalk.

“Somebody’s life has been taken,” he said. “One of the things I’ve learned about doing crime prevention in the inner city is (police) need to make sure consequences for breaking the law are clearly defined and people hear about them, so it does have a deterrent effect.”

Burrows said more police patrols or a speed trap at the intersection would be welcome.

He said in 2017, patrols were increased in the area following the death of 23-year-old Cody Severight at Main Street and Sutherland Avenue, which is one block south.

“Every month, they should have a couple of hours with a speed camera under there, issue tickets and publicize it,” Burrows said. “So people know if you speed coming out of that underpass, you’re going to get a ticket.”

Winnipeg Police Service Const. Dani McKinnon said Tuesday no charges had been laid and the investigation continues. The police service recently urged pedestrians and drivers to take care after a high number of collisions involving pedestrians.

It’s unclear if the northbound signals at the crosswalk were functioning normally at the time of the collision, but on Tuesday, they were working.

A City of Winnipeg spokesperson said it couldn’t comment on whether the lights were working at the time of the crash, or whether the lights had required service in the last 30 days, due to the ongoing police investigation.

Several people in the area who use the crosswalk said drivers regularly drive through the crosswalk when the lights are activated, something Burrows said may be rooted in what he called “people’s disdain for the inner city.”

“They don’t stop for you,” Jacqueline Courchene said about her experience at the crosswalk. “Even if it’s broad daylight and the lights are going … they won’t stop.”

She said she was almost hit at the crosswalk last winter when someone failed to stop, but her friend saved her.

“Three of the lanes stopped, but the last didn’t,” she said.

“(Drivers) see the people out here, myself included, as second-class citizens. It’s disgusting.”

Keith Horn, owner of the nearby Northern Hotel said it’s difficult to watch the video of the collision captured by his surveillance cameras.

“You just see a black figure slide along the ground, so you know someone was hit hard,” he said.

He agreed that people drive down the strip faster than they should.

“They come under the underpass, and it’s supposed to be 50 kilometres per hour, but probably most people are going a lot faster,” Horn said. “Then all of a sudden, you’re at a crosswalk.”

He said education, a speed trap or even more signage — such as those in school zones advising drivers to slow down — would be welcome in the area.

“You have to get people to slow down,” he said.

morgan.modjeski@winnipegfreepress.com