The City of Candiac inaugurated four smart pedestrian crossings on Monday, a first in America. The system features LED-equipped slabs that automatically light up when pedestrians enter the roadway, making it safer to cross intersections.
This pilot project will test European technology in Quebec winter conditions. The system has been installed near two Candiac elementary schools, Saint-Marc School and Saint-Lawrence School, and near the municipal library. Two crossings are located at the intersection of Chemin Haendel and Place Halifax, where a crossing guard was hit by a motorist last year. The other two were installed at the corner of Boulevard Champlain and Avenue Honfleur, as well as at the elevated crossing on Boulevard Champlain.
These intersections are very busy and present safety issues, explains the mayor of Candiac, Normand Dyotte: “These are ‘hot’ places that citizens had mentioned to us.”
Called the “Flowell solution,” the system is equipped with sensors and light panels integrated into the roadway that are activated when pedestrians pass by. Their intensity adjusts to the outside light levels, day and night. It was developed by the Colas Group, a company specializing in the construction and maintenance of transport infrastructure. This technology received the 2024 Road Safety Innovation Award from the French Ministry of the Interior.
Mayor Dyotte said he discovered the technology while attending the International Summit on Innovation in Mid-Sized Cities in France last year. “It fit perfectly with our sustainable and active mobility plan that we have had in Candiac for several years,” he explained.
The challenges of winter
Since 2019, the technology has been used for 18 pedestrian crossings around the world. According to the company Colas, the smart pedestrian crossings installed in Paris have significantly increased the respect of pedestrian priority, with a rate increasing from 67 to 94%.
The pilot experiment conducted in Candiac will assess the system’s behavior in sometimes difficult winter conditions. According to Mayor Dyotte, the LED lights are so strong that they are easily visible through one or two centimeters of snow.
Will the slabs withstand the passage of snow removal vehicles, de-icing salts and abrasives? “The Colas company is confident and so are we,” retorts Normand Dyotte, who points out that no piece of equipment protrudes from the roadway. “But all of that will be tested in the pilot project.”
If the experiment is conclusive, the Quebec Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility could give the green light for the use of this system in other Quebec municipalities. Candiac received a $175,000 grant from Quebec for its project, the total cost of which is estimated at $200,000 if we take into account the cost of internal labour. The city has also entered into an agreement with McGill University and the Ministry of Transport to collect data during the pilot project and evaluate it.