Michael Fougere is hoping to be re-elected as Regina’s mayor on Monday.
On Friday, Fougere issued a statement about the tragic accident on Wednesday where a 21-year-old woman was killed while trying to cross the street at a dangerous intersection on the 4500 block of Albert Street when she was hit by an excavator owned by the City of Regina.
Fougere says he has talked to many people in the wake of the accident and says if re-elected he will start the process of ensuring a lighted crosswalk is installed at that intersection to protect pedestrians and drivers.
If he is not successful in serving another term as mayor, he says the person that succeeds him should pick up this ball and run with it.
“I hope so.” Fougere said. “I obviously hope I am the one to do that, but I think that doing the right thing is the simple thing to do. I have heard from a lot of people since this tragic accident occurred and that you see how dangerous this intersection is. If I am not chosen to be mayor again, I hope whoever succeeds me will do the right thing.”
An online petition has been started by a co-worker of the woman killed to make the intersection safer.
Other mayoral candidates are also weighing in. Jerry Flegel says on Facebook that we are not doing our jobs if we have pedestrians with no safe way to cross our streets. Immediately, we need look into installing some form of crosswalk or pedestrian lights or some other crossing here to make this busy intersection safe for everyone.
Sandra Masters says this is not an election issue nor should it be considered as one. Masters says seeing someone has lost a life and a city worker has been traumatized is terrible for all concerned and that her heart goes out to all of those affected by the tragic event that occurred. That being said, she says she has heard a lot about walkability in the city and that pedestrian safety as a whole is something she has heard about and will act on if elected Monday.
