A report on pedestrian tunnels under Circle Drive, reviewed by the Board of Police Commissioners on Thursday, stated that there is no way to identify if the walkways are contributing to more crime in the local communities.

The Mount Royal Community Association approached the Board of Police Commissioners back in August that their greatest safety concern was the three underpasses connecting their community to Confederation Park and Massey Place.

The report presented Thursday compiled five years of reported crimes involving those underpasses from January of 2015 to September of 2019. During that period, 80 calls were identified including 21 assaults, threats and robberies and 30 incidents were the suspect used the tunnel to escape.

Mayor Charlie Clark says the tunnels and safety aren’t new topics and a report about the pedestrian tunnels will move on to the next level of municipal government when it comes before City Council, at an as yet, unspecified future date.

According to a report from 2005, the three underpasses see a combined number of trips of around 2100 per day.