Vision Zero

We're excited to announce a series of safety improvements across various locations this summer. These enhancements aim to increase pedestrian safety, reduce vehicle speeds, and make our community streets safer for everyone. The work began late last month and is expected to be complete by the end of October 2024.

We prepared a map showing the locations of these enhancements. Planned improvements at intersections, like the intersection of two streets or of a street and a trail, are represented by dots. Planned improvements along streets are represented by lines.

View the map

Here is a high-level overview of the enhancements:

• Installation of Pedestrian Crossovers (PXOs)
  • Kingsway Dr and Greenfield Ave Intersection
  • Mount Hope and Park St Intersection
  • Laurentian Dr (between Shea Cres and Dunsmere Dr)
  • Lucerne Dr (between Selkik Dr and Kingswood Dr)
  • Strasburg Rd (between Barwood Cres and Selkirk Dr)
  • Williamsburg Rd (between Pinedale Dr and Dinison Cres)
• Installation of speed humps and speed cushions
  • Appleridge (between Forest Creek and Doon Mills Dr)
  • Bankside Dr (between Eastforest Trail and Westforest Trail)
  • Bechtel Dr School Zone
  • David Burgey Dr (between Beach Blossom Cres and Ottawa St)
  • Erinbrook Dr (between Rittenhouse Rd and The Country Way)
  • Forest Creek Dr (between Apple Ridge and Robert Ferrie)
  • Strange St School Zone
  • Trussler Dr (between Highview and Highland)
  • West Ave (between Victoria and Highland)
• Installation of raised crossings
  • Caryndale Dr School Zone
  • Erinbrook Dr (between Rittenhouse Rd and The Country Way)
  • Green Valley Dr (between Mill Park Dr and Pioneer Dr)
• Intersection reconfiguration
  • Strasburg Rd and Old Country Dr Intersection

These improvements are part of our ongoing commitment to making our streets safer for all street users. We appreciate your patience and cooperation during the construction period. Stay safe!

Two new street safety videos

We are pleased to announce two new Vision Zero videos promoting street safety in our community. In "Fast Friends" a relatable moment demonstrates how speeding doesn't get you there much faster. In "Pedestrian Crossovers" learn about these places where pedestrians have the right of way.

Fast Friends

Pedestrian Crossovers

Vision Zero strategy succeeding in creating safer streets

Earlier this spring, Council received an update on the progress of Kitchener’s Vision Zero Strategy. This four-year street safety plan aims to stop severe injuries and fatalities on City streets. First launched in 2021, the plan evaluates the City’s street network to address key factors such as:

• vulnerable street users
• high-risk locations
• driving behaviours

Recent data shows a decline in injury and fatal collisions from 2018 and 2022, with zero fatalities occurring on City streets in both 2022 and 2023. This suggests the strategy is succeeding in creating safer streets in Kitchener.

Vision Zero Hot Spot improvement program

To further enhance the safety of cyclists and pedestrians, new initiatives are being carried out through the Vision Zero Hot Spot improvement program. In 2024, the City will add four pedestrian crossover locations at:

• Belmont and Henry Sturm
• Kingsway and Greenfield
• Park and Mt. Hope
• Lawrence and Henry Sturm.

The City will also add dozens of permanent traffic calming measures in high priority locations, such as speed humps and cushions, as well as pedestrian islands. Other measures include:

• almost 400 meters of sidewalk/multi-use trail infill
• 40 additional seasonal narrowings
• 10 solar-powered speed advisory signs

In partnership with the Region of Waterloo, the City will also add five automated speed enforcement cameras in various school zones. Additionally, complete street design standards will be implemented in nine reconstruction projects scheduled for 2024.

The City of Kitchener is reminding residents that we all have a role to play in eliminating serious injuries or deaths due to traffic collisions. The city has released a new promotional video, “Traffic Collisions are not Accidents,” as it continues various projects aimed at improving traffic safety throughout Kitchener.

“Traffic safety is a top issue for Kitchener residents,” said Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic. “We’re continuing to work with the Waterloo Regional Police Service, Region of Waterloo Public Health and Paramedic Services, Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region, and the City of Waterloo to implement evidence-based solutions to improve traffic safety. But we also have a role to play as individuals – by making safe driving decisions every day, we can significantly reduce the number of people being seriously hurt on our roads.”

Along with ongoing public education efforts, the City of Kitchener’s Vision Zero strategy includes a number of engineering projects that improve traffic safety. These include annual hot spot improvements, traffic calming, and sidewalk infill work installed or currently underway at dozens of locations throughout Kitchener for 2023. This includes 450 meters of sidewalk infill, two pedestrian refuge islands, three raised crosswalks, two intersection improvement locations, and 22-speed humps/speed cushions locations.

“I’m happy to see traffic safety improvements being implemented across Kitchener,” said Councillor Margaret Johnston, Community & Infrastructure Services Committee chair. “We often hear from residents about their traffic safety concerns, and I’m proud that we’re making strategic improvements in key locations. But Vision Zero is a long-term goal, and we have to all remain committed to doing our part as community members as we work toward this goal in the coming years.”

To watch the latest Vision Zero promotional video, visit the City of Kitchener’s YouTube channel.

The City of Kitchener’s Vision Zero Strategy provides a framework to improve street safety for all street users regardless of age, ability, or mode of transportation. This strategy aims to achieve zero serious injuries and fatalities on City of Kitchener streets. To find out more and read the full strategy, visit www.kitchener.ca/VisionZero.

The City of Kitchener is reminding residents that we all have a role to play in eliminating serious injuries or deaths due to traffic collisions. The city has released a new promotional video, “Traffic Collisions are not Accidents” as it continues various projects aimed at improving traffic safety throughout Kitchener.

We have just released a new Vision Zero street safety video. This is part of a public education campaign aimed at reducing serious injuries and death due to traffic collisions to zero in our community.

Watch the video here

The video sends a powerful message that traffic collisions are not accidents and always have a cause, which means they can be prevented. It is the first of three videos and sets a foundational message for the Vision Zero strategy. Future videos will focus on specific driving behaviours and will be released later this year.

What are your best driving and street safety tips?

Let’s learn from each other’s experiences and remind ourselves to drive safe. We invite drivers to share their best driving and street safety tips via comments, photos or videos. For example:

• What do you do while driving that you wish other drivers would do too?
• What thoughts motivate you to slow down and drive safely?
• What mistakes have you made or seen behind the wheel?
• Have you ever experienced a “close call” while driving? How might that have been prevented?

Share your tips now

We have just introduced some new resources and tools about Vision Zero that we wanted to let you know about.

Vision Zero Dashboard

A new dashboard that maps collision statistics on Kitchener roads is now available. It also shows our progress on the Vision Zero initiatives.

Visit our Vision Zero dashboard

Ask a Question

We recently added a section to this page where you can share with us your questions, suggestions, and concerns about Vision Zero. Let’s keep the conversation going about how we can work together to achieve the vision of zero traffic accidents and deaths in our community.

Do you have a question about Vision Zero? Ask it here

Traffic collisions are not accidents. They always have a cause which means they can be prevented. This is the message of a new Vision Zero street safety education campaign launching this week by the City of Kitchener, in partnership with the City of Waterloo, Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services, and Waterloo Regional Police Service.

“Kitchener is committed to making our streets as a safe as possible for all users – pedestrians, cyclists and motorists – joining other Vision Zero cities around the world in that goal,” said Mayor Berry Vrbanovic. “Speeding and street safety are one of the concerns most often raised with city councillors, staff and myself and we all look forward to the day when we see no traffic fatalities in Kitchener and throughout our region.”

The new education campaign is an outcome of the city’s Vision Zero Strategy (2022-2025), a long-term plan which aims to eliminate serious injuries and death due to traffic collisions over time. The Vision Zero concept was first introduced in Sweden in 1997 and has since been adopted by municipalities around the globe.

“Kitchener’s Vision Zero Strategy is a long-term plan that includes improving our traffic and collision data, implementing safety improvements at the highest priority locations, creating educational campaigns, and more,” said Aaron McCrimmon-Jones, Manager of Transportation Safety and Policy, “This campaign is one way to share our coordinated strategy and overall message with residents that no loss of life due to traffic collisions is acceptable.”

This first phase will build awareness around Vision Zero, with a focus on an important key message: ‘Traffic collisions are not accidents. They can be prevented.’ Utilizing website, social media, radio, posters and digital billboards, the goal is to get the community thinking about road safety as a shared responsibility. These efforts form the first phase a larger education strategy which will continue through 2024.

“Vision Zero is a new way of thinking about creating safer roads,” said Ward 8 Councillor, Margaret Johnston. “We believe that no traffic deaths or serious injuries on our city streets are acceptable. We’re looking to identify road safety improvements that will make Kitchener streets safer for everyone.”

To learn more, visit www.kitchener.ca/visionzero.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Vision Zero strategy!

Kitchener Council approved the strategy on December 13, 2021. To view the report and meeting recording, please visit calendar.kitchener.ca/council

The city’s Vision Zero Strategy is a long-term street safety plan that includes, but is not limited to, changing road geometry, enhancing signage, pavement markings and undertaking educational campaigns. Action items were selected based on public and stakeholder engagement, data analysis, background research, and the city’s strategic goals. Vision Zero will also collect traffic and collision data to track progress towards the long-term goal of 0 fatalities and serious injuries.

This strategy will be completed over the next four years, with annual updates and recommendations presented to Council. We will continue to use this page to engage residents in our ongoing work to reduce injuries and fatalities.

Please subscribe for updates by clicking the Subscribe button at the top right-hand corner of this page.

Thank you to everyone who answered our surveys and shared their ideas about the Vision Zero strategy! We will present the draft strategy to the Community and Infrastructure Services Committee meeting on Monday, December 6 from 6:00-8:30p.m.

To see the agenda and report, visit calendar.kitchener.ca/council

Watch the meeting live at kitchener.ca/watchnow