Amanda Vaughan
Northern News Services
Published Friday, December 21, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - After a few days rife with car accidents, a person might wonder if the city's drivers are out of control, or the roads and intersections are in a bad state.

However, emergency crews and the city are both saying that Yellowknife doesn't really get a high enough volume of car accidents in any particular intersection or street to call any of them "hot spots."

A firefighter talks to a driver involved in an accident at the corner of 50 Street and Franklin Avenue last Friday afternoon. Authorities say no particular intersections, even this one, get unusually high volumes of accidents. - Jessica Klinkenberg/NNSL photo

"In a large urban centre, we would be working with city planners," said RCMP Const. Roxanne Dreilich. However, she said that in Yellowknife car accidents aren't happening frequently enough for the police to alert the city to potential road problems.

While he couldn't pinpoint particular intersections, deputy fire chief Chucker Dewar said the Yellowknife fire department has responded to only nine motor vehicle incidents involving injury or entrapped passengers in the downtown area since 1998.

He said that figure doesn't include vehicle and pedestrian accidents, and he did not have stats available for those types of incidents.

Dreilich said although Yellowknife is a fraction of a southern metropolis, it's still important to keep in mind that the city has a very defined downtown core, and a busy rush hour period.

"Where traffic is concentrated there is an expectation of the potential for extra accidents," she said, adding that no particular spots are bad enough to warrant infrastructure changes like added lights or lanes.

She also said that if a problem became apparent to the RCMP, then it would certainly alert the city to concerns.

The city, though, doesn't wait for accidents to happen to make minor infrastructure changes.

"We've had areas of worry regarding pedestrian traffic," said Dennis Kefalas, manager of public works and engineering.

He pointed out a couple of areas where the city has dealt with areas of high pedestrian volume by adding stop signs or pedestrian crossings, such as along 51st Avenue or at the corner of Franklin and 44th Street. But on the whole, he echoed the sentiments of the police and fire department.

"In a city of this size it's very rare that we have an intersection with a lot of accidents," he said.

As the city has grown, though, he said he's seen drivers become a bit more aggressive, and warns drivers to slow down and look out.

"When I came to town 10 years ago, people always stopped for pedestrians," he said.