Highways through urban areas - Motorized Traffic and Health - Interventions to Mitigate its Impacts

Sep 19, 2026

Presentation outlining how highways running through urban areas influence health and road safety, focusing on air pollution, noise, travel-mode choice, insecurity, and crash risk. It links health impacts to contributing factors such as traffic volume, speed, and design, using Quebec data on injury and fatal crashes across different speed limits, and highlights pedestrian and cyclist collision patterns in urban and transition zones. It then reviews intervention strategies, contrasting Quebec regulation with engineering, education, and enforcement approaches, and adds selected European examples.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages30

Reading Time1 h 16 min

AccessFree to download

Presentation outline

Highways through urban areas

Health impacts: health issues and contributing factors

Intervention strategies

Quebec's approach

Design techniques and examples of design in Quebec

European examples

Conclusion

Documentation

Motorized Traffic and Health: Interventions to Mitigate its Impacts Highways through urban areas Edmonton, June 11, 2012 Catherine Berthod, Eng., Urb. Pl. Road safety division Presentation outline 1. Highways through urban areas 2. Health impacts. Road safety. 3. Intervention strategies 4. Quebec's approach 5. Design techniques • Health impacts • Examples of design in Quebec 6. European examples 7. Conclusion 8. Documentation Highways through urban areas • Residential streets • Commercial streets • Urban boulevards • Highways through urban areas 􀀂 Roads managed by the Department of Transport 􀀂 National, regional and collector • Road 􀀂 Through traffic 􀀂 Heavy vehicles • Main arterial road of the municipality 􀀂 Urban activities 􀀂 Pedestrians, cyclists, residents, walkers… 􀀂 Parking Health impacts Health issues • Air pollution • Noise • Choice of travel mode • Feeling of insecurity • Risk of road crashes Main factors • Traffic volume • Speed • Design Photos MTQ Impacts on road safety National, regional and collector roads in Quebec | | Speed limit | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | 50 km/h and 60 km/h | 70 km/h | All speed limits | | Injury crashes | 26% | 15% | 100% | | Fatal and serious injury crashes | 17% | 11% | 100% | | Injury crash rate | 0.61 | 0.40 | 0.37 | Source: Data from the Société de l'Assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), 2007- 2009. Processing by the Quebec Department of transport. Impacts on road safety National, regional and collector roads in Quebec Most collisions involving pedestrians or cyclists occur in urban areas and in transition zones and in rural-urban transition zones | | Speed limit | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Proportion of collisions with pedestrians and cyclists | 50 km/h and 60 km/h | 70 km/h | All speed limits | | Serious injury or death | 24% | 15% | 9% | | Injuries | 12% | 7% | 6% | Source: Data from the SAAQ, 2007-2009. Processing by the Quebec Department of transport. Road safety and speed • One of the most important contributing factors to vehicle crashes: speed • In Quebec, speed-related crashes account for: Source : SAAQ 􀀃 42% of deaths (225 deaths per year) Web2007-s2ite01(d1)ata 􀀃 36% of serious injuries (840 per year) 􀀃 24% of minor injuries (9,900 per year) • Increasing speed raises the risk of collision and the severity of injuries Source :Aarts, L. 1 km/h reduction in average driving speed: &I v(an200S6c)h, agDreivnin, g 􀀄 2% reduction in injury crashes sripeed ansk of rodthe 􀀄 3% reduction in serious injury crashes crashes: a 􀀄 4% reduction in fatal crashes revAnaielwysi.sAccidandent Prevention, vol • Speed differentials increase the risk of collision 38, issue 2) Intervention strategies Regulation Engineering Education Enforcement Intervention strategies • Regulation: speed limit • Quebec Highway Safety Code 􀀂 90 km/h on roads surfaced with concrete or asphalt 􀀂 50 km/h in built-up areas – Highways through urban areas • May be modified by road network manager 􀀂 70 km/h in transition zones 􀀂 Coherence of the road environment Photo MTQ

FAQs

Which health issues are highlighted as impacts of motorized traffic on urban highways?

The presentation identifies air pollution, noise, choice of travel mode, feeling of insecurity, and risk of road crashes as key health issues associated with motorized traffic in urban areas.

How does speed relate to road safety and injury severity in the Quebec data shown?

It states that speed is a major contributing factor and that increasing speed raises both the risk of collision and the severity of injuries. The document includes proportions of injury and fatal/serious injury crashes by speed limit categories.

What intervention strategies are proposed to mitigate health and safety impacts?

Intervention strategies are organized into regulation, engineering, education, and enforcement. Regulation includes speed limits and coherence of the road environment, with Quebec’s approach described alongside design techniques and examples.

Sep 19, 2026

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