7 ways to make pedestrian friendly streets

[Pheidippides]

I'm sure something like this would work here too.  There would be some issues with snow and ice in the winter months but I think this is an example of safe street crossing worth pursuing. 

This is just normalizing a car-centric behaviour and environments by ostracizing a segment of the population. Really it comes down to what the population and society puts value and priority on.

Christopher Hume had an interesting, albeit hyperbole filled, article about this in the Toronto Star recently.

Toronto's killing streets as deadly as ever: The recent spate of pedestrians killed shows how willing we are to accept death as part of crossing the road
"If, for example, 22 seniors were murdered on the streets of the GTA during a single year, there would be outrage across the land. But when that many pedestrian seniors are killed by cars, as was the case in 2013, we wring our hands and carry on."

"In fact, there were more traffic fatalities in Toronto in 2013 (63, two-thirds of them pedestrians) as there were homicides (57), according to Toronto police. One form of death is considered accidental and, therefore, no one’s fault. Homicide, on the other hand, is a crime and blame must be apportioned."

For comparisons sake here are the statistics for Waterloo Region 2009-2013:
Sources:
http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/gettin...eports.asp
http://www.wrps.on.ca/node/2951
http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca//uploads/...202515.pdf
http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/region...0304.1.pdf

Pedestrian Deaths
2009 5
2010 2
2011 2
2012 6
2013 3

Cyclist Deaths
2009 0
2010 1
2011 1
2012 2
2013 0

Motorist Deaths
2009 5
2010 5
2011 13
2012 2
2013 7

Homicides
2009 4
2010 4
2011 7
2012 4
2013 8

"Active transportation" deaths (pedestrian + cyclist)
2009 5
2010 3
2011 3
2012 8
2013 3

"Transportation" deaths (pedestrian + cyclist + motorist)
2009 10
2010 8
2011 16
2012 10
2013 10

Regional Operating Budget:
$303,251,994

Regional Policing Operating Budget:
$145,609,556, (~32%)