Kitchissippi Q & A: Pushing buttons

Is there an issue in your corner of Kitchissippi that’s been puzzling you? Perhaps there’s something you’ve always wanted to know but didn’t know who to ask and it’s keeping you up at night. Send your burning questions (Kitchissippi-related of course) to ?editor@kitchissippi.com and we’ll help find the answer.

Q: I live in Westboro and when I’m walking North towards the village I often cross Byron at Roosevelt Avenue where a new set of lights was installed a few years ago. A friend told me that I should push the walk signal every time I cross, regardless of whether there are cars present or not. Apparently the City of Ottawa uses the signal to keep a record of how many people cross the street there. Is this true?

Signed,

Westboro Pedestrian

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A: Dear WP,

It’s true. The City of Ottawa tracks how many times that button is pushed, and they’re able to pull daily tallies whenever they need to know how many pedestrians are using that intersection. They can look at that information, compare days, and draw conclusions based on the available data.

I’m not sure about you, but I’m going to start pressing the button whenever I cross the street. It’s probably a good idea for the city to have accurate information, especially as it pertains to the ongoing discussions around pedestrian safety and traffic management.

Thanks for your question!

Signed,

The Editor

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