A Winnipeg city Councillor wants to expand an upcoming traffic study to include a stretch of St. Annes Road where an eight-year-old boy was tragically killed after being struck by a car. 

Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) says they owe it to the boy's family to at least look at what safety precautions - if any - can and should be taken to make sure this doesn't happen again.

On Feb. 13, 2018, police say the boy was using a pedestrian crosswalk when he was struck by a northbound vehicle at the intersection of St. Annes Road and Varennes Avenue. Police say the driver stayed on scene while the boy was transported to hospital, where he tragically succumbed to his injuries. 

Mayes had a motion approved on Jan. 30 to have the city take a look at southbound St. Annes Road and Stranmillis Avenue. He said given what happened, it only makes sense to expand the study. 

In 2012, Mayes asked the city to look at the area and the possibility of putting traffic lights up, but city engineers at the time didn't see the need for change. 

"I am hoping to make that (traffic lights) part of the study, along with the speed limit," Mayes said. "I can't unilaterally change the speed limit or tell staff to put in a stop sign or a traffic light, but it should be part of the study to say 'Look, has anything changed since 2012? Does this fatality change our thinking? Should we look at pedestrian activated lights?'". 

"It's a tragedy, and we owe it to the family to look at what we can do at that intersection." 

Mayes says he has had people write in to him saying traffic lights should be installed there and he's had others tell him it should be left the way it is. All the feedback he has received has been constructive.

He will introduce the motion to expand the scope of the study at the next Community Committee meeting in early March, and he expects it will be approved.

"I don't know how quickly we'd get the results but I'd hope we'd get it within 90 days or so," Mayes said. "Maybe there's something we can do over the summer so that when school starts again we're in better shape." 

Mayes will be meeting with the Louis Riel School Division in the near future to discuss safety at the intersection.