There are few surprises in the Region of Waterloo’s overview of collisions on regional roads for 2014 – but one of the few numbers to see significant change is a positive one.

The number of collisions involving cyclists fell by 12 per cent in 2014, with 107 reported.

A smaller decrease was seen in that category from 2012 to 2013.

The worst intersections for collisions involving cyclists in recent years are King and Cedar streets in Kitchener (seven such collisions reported between 2010 and 2014), and Hespeler Road and Munch Avenue in Cambridge (six).

For pedestrians, the number of collisions reported in the region rose from 109 in 2013 to 113 in 2014.

King Street and University Avenue in Waterloo was the intersection where collisions with pedestrians most commonly occurred – 12 of them over a five-year period.

Brooke Dietrich, a first-year Wilfrid Laurier Student who crossed the intersection on foot Tuesday, said she wasn’t surprised to learn of that fact.

“(I’m) very nervous even when I’m walking across the street … just because nobody’s really paying attention,” she said, saying drivers and pedestrians in the area should pay more attention to their surroundings.

Transportation planners have made a number of changes to that intersection in recent years to reduce the frequency of collisions involving pedestrians.

Those measures include the installation of high-visibility crosswalks offset from the rest of the intersection.

According to Bob Henderson, the region’s manager of transportation planning, those changes have also prompted an unexpected decrease in collisions between vehicles at King and University.

“We’re happy to see that some of the programs we’re putting in place to reduce injuries to pedestrians and cyclists (are working),” he said in an interview.

It’s estimated that 3,000 pedestrian crossings occur at King and University on a typical day.

Collisions involving horse-drawn vehicles fell sharply from the unusually high volume experienced in 2013, when 11 such collisions were reported.

Only five crashes involving buggies occurred in 2014.

The total number of collisions reported in Waterloo Region in 2014 was 6,462 – up three per cent from the previous year, and the most seen in the region since 2003.

Adjusted for population, it was the worst year on local roads since 2007.

As usual, the Kitchener intersection of Homer Watson Boulevard and Ottawa Street saw more collisions than any other.

A total of 218 collisions were recorded at that corner over a five-year period.

A roundabout has been approved for the intersection.

While construction was initially planned for 2016, it may be delayed until 2017 depending on the timing of work on the nearby Highway 7/8.

Roundabouts typically reduce the level of collisions causing injuries by about 75 per cent, Henderson said – although smaller fender-benders may become more prevalent.

“A roundabout, at least in our experience, typically sees an increase in the non-injury-type collisions,” he said.

Despite that, one student who regularly drives along Homer Watson calls the intersection “almost a nightmare” and expects a roundabout to make it worse.

“People don’t know how to use them,” said Chris Oblitias.

“If they’re going to add a roundabout, it’s going to be crazy.”

Alcohol was determined to be a factor in 1.3 per cent of all collisions in the region.