A pedestrian crosswalk is strongly needed on Academy Road at or near Lindsay Street. As the city's population has grown and traffic on Academy has gotten much busier, crossing Academy in this area has gotten increasingly difficult. People often wait for extended periods of time to cross and often have to sprint across to avoid traffic. It seems it is just a matter of time before there is a serious pedestrian injury or death.

The nearest controlled intersections are Lanark Street to the west (two blocks away plus train tracks in between) and Queenston Street five blocks to the east. Most people will not walk that far out of their way to cross the street safely.

There are bus stops on both the north and south sides of Academy at Lindsay. People often take risks with traffic to run across the street to catch their bus.

The walking bridge across the Assiniboine River is located just west of Lindsay Street, making Lindsay a natural choice for pedestrians or cyclists to cross at if they're crossing the river. Many middle school and high school students use that bridge to bike or walk from Wolseley.

With vehicular traffic restricted on Wellington Crescent for the summer, and the lower 30 km/h speed limit the rest of the year, more drivers are choosing to take Academy instead of Wellington.

I've seen several close calls when people dodge the traffic. Recently I saw a pre-teen boy waiting for a long time to cross the street until he finally seized the opportunity of a very small break in traffic and ran as fast as he could. A driver who had to slow down for him honked his horn. I caught up to the boy and saw that he was shaken.

To prevent tragedy and keep our neighbourhood safe, we need a crosswalk!