The City of Fredericton is moving forward with a pilot to ban right turns on red lights at six downtown intersections, starting at the end of May.

The Right Turn on Red Restriction is designed to reduce the number of pedestrian-vehicle collisions.

The city will give motorists a grace period to get used to the new restrictions, the transportation committee heard on Thursday.

Signs will be placed on traffic signal standards.

The affected intersections include:

Regent Street at Queen Street, south.

Regent Street at King Street.

Regent Street at Brunswick Street, north and east.

Westmorland Street at Queen Street, south.

King Street at York Street.

Westmorland Street at Brunswick Street, north and east.

Darren Charters, a traffic engineer with the city, has said the ban will likely mean longer waits for motorists. He expects a delay of about four to six seconds per vehicle, he has said.

A full report is due back to the transportation committee in June 2014.

Pedestrian-vehicle collisions on rise

The red light right turn ban was one of 25 measures suggested in a consultant's report last year to cut down on the rising number of pedestrian-vehicle collisions.

Coun. Greg Ericson, a member of the city’s transportation committee, has said pedestrian-vehicle collisions have risen by 10 per cent a year for the last three years.

More than 700 people responded to an online survey last year about pedestrian safety commissioned by the City of Fredericton following several accidents and near-misses.

On Sept. 26, 2011, Nerida Gleason, 67, died of injuries she sustained the previous day when she was hit by a car while in her motorized wheelchair on Smythe Street.

A 52-year-old man was struck and killed on Sept. 7 while crossing the downtown intersection of Brunswick and York streets.

On Aug. 29, 2009, Dianne Trottier, 33, was crossing the intersection at Regent and Beaverbrook streets in her motorized wheelchair when she was killed in a hit-and-run collision.