Pedestrians and sidewalks
Walking and rolling are the most common forms of transportation in Kitchener. Every trip, including those as a cyclist, transit user or inside an automobile, begins and ends as a pedestrian. It’s an essential part of healthy, active living, equal among all abilities and socio-economic levels, and many pieces of Kitchener’s infrastructure supports pedestrian movement.
On this page:
Sidewalks
Sidewalks are a critical piece of road infrastructure that allows pedestrians and those using mobility devices to safely travel alongside roadways.
The City of Kitchener aims to have sidewalks on both sides of all the streets. Our sidewalk infill policy is helping to achieve that goal. Sidewalks are most commonly added during road reconstruction projects. There is also a scoring system used to prioritize where sidewalks are needed before reconstruction is planned. The scoring system ranks all locations that are missing sidewalks based on proximity to major pedestrian generators, traffic volumes, land use, transit and other factors.
If you notice an issue with an existing sidewalk and would like to report it, contact the corporate contact centre.
Crossing guards
Our school crossing guards direct and supervise the movement of people across a street by creating necessary gaps in vehicle traffic, and providing safe passage at designated school crossing locations.
In Kitchener, there are over 80 school crossing locations. When you see a crossing guard on duty:
- Slow down as you approach.
- Come to a complete stop when the crossing guard raises the stop paddle.
- Please wait until all pedestrians and the crossing guard have cleared the entire roadway before proceeding.
Extreme weather conditions
We endeavour to provide a safe, reliable crossing guard service to all elementary children attending schools in the areas where established guards are currently listed.
However, in extreme weather conditions, the safety of our crossing guards may require that they take shelter. We value our crossing guard staff and have a policy in place that guards may not work under the following conditions:
- Temperature colder than -30 Celsius or wind chill below -35
- Significant freezing rain
- Thunderstorms
Pedestrian crossovers
At pedestrian crossovers, pedestrians have the right of way. These crossings are an important part of improving safety on our roads.
When you drive or ride up to a crossover, you must reduce your speed and look for pedestrians. If there are pedestrians wanting to cross, you must stop.
Pedestrians have the right of way at all times, whether there are flashing lights or not. Make sure you wait until they have fully crossed the road before proceeding.
If you’re a pedestrian at a crossover, please push the button to turn on the flashing lights if available. Ensure the way is safe before crossing.