Resident made several crosswalk complaints to city before fatal pedestrian crash

Residents of a southeast Edmonton neighbourhood say they were asking for signals at an area crosswalk even before a senior died on Tuesday.

The 71-year-old man was hit by a truck and killed while in the marked crosswalk at 17 Street and Aster Boulevard.

Rajat Sharma says he's had several close calls while crossing with his family.

"There's no safe way to do it," he told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday. "You can see there's no traffic light, there’s no push button signal."

He said he was saddened to hear about the death.

"The person who died was someone's grandfather, someone's parent, so we're all heartbroken and we need a solution to this problem."

A CTV News Edmonton camera spotted several drivers who didn't stop for pedestrians at the crosswalk during the interview with Sharma.

He said he filed a complaint with Edmonton 311 about the crosswalk in August, and has called four times since.

"It's easy for the city to sell all these lots here, to collect the taxes but what about the infrastructure? What about the safety of the residents?" he asked.

CTV News reached out to the city on both Tuesday and Wednesday about the crosswalk.

In an email late Wednesday afternoon, Christie Pelletier, director for safe mobility, parks and roads services made the following comments:

"Every effort is made to review feedback and inquiries received through 311 from residents and to respond within a reasonable time frame. Thank you for raising this outstanding request to our attention. We will be sure to look into the status of the inquiry and respond accordingly."

Pelletier said based on a previous review of the location the city had planned to install traffic lights at the location in 2024.

Additionally, a traffic light will be installed at the intersection of 16 Avenue and 17 Street before the end of 2023.

Sharma says he won't stop fighting until he sees the city follow through.

"We will follow up on this one until those traffic lights are installed, he vowed.