City installs traffic-calming measures at 50 Calgary schools as pedestrian deaths surge

Calgary has installed safety-related upgrades at 50 school sites in 2026 to slow down traffic and reduce pedestrian collisions during pickup and drop-off times, a traffic engineer said Monday.

The mitigations include curb extensions, rectangular rapid flashing beacons, crosswalk enhancements, speed humps and speed cushions. Speed cushions and speed humps were installed at 17 schools in 2026 alone.

On Monday, city officials unveiled a recently installed curb extension along Taravista Drive N.E. in front of Taradale School. The curb extension narrows the street at the point of crossing, encouraging motorists to slow down while providing a shorter distance and time for pedestrians to be on the road.

"The goal is not simply to add infrastructure," said Surendra Mishra, a traffic engineer for the city's mobility traffic safety team. "The goal is to use the right safety treatment at the right location. We want streets to work better for everyone, especially children who are less visible because they are small, and they are still developing judgment around traffic."

The city's own studies show that flashing beacons increase vehicles' yielding compliance rates at intersections from 70-75 per cent to 95 per cent and above. When used in isolation, the beacons reduce collisions by 40-50 per cent, or as much as 70-80 per cent when combined with curb extensions and speed cushions. Speed cushions result in an average speed reduction of seven kilometres per hour on a 50 km/h roadway.

Calgary is halfway through its five-year safer mobility plan, which aims to reduce collisions by 25 per cent, year-over-year, from 2024 to 2028. But the city has been trending in the wrong direction. Last year saw 121 serious pedestrian collisions — eight per cent more than 2024 — and 15 pedestrian deaths, the highest total in over a decade. Pedestrians accounted for 40 per cent of the city's fatal collisions in 2025.

"People make mistakes on the roadways, but the end result should not be a fatality or serious injuries," Mishra said. "we want everybody to be safe and we want our kids to come to school and go back home safely."

The city and Calgary Police Service are collaborating to reduce serious traffic collisions, though specific details of that partnership were not disclosed.