At the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium, a Lest We Forget crosswalk carries Remembrance Day into everyday life. Here is how the city, two Legion branches and a regiment made it, and what a memorial crosswalk asks of the material.
At the East Avenue entrance to the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium in Kitchener, Ontario, red bands, a soldier's silhouette and the words Lest We Forget run across the road. The Veterans Crosswalk is in TrafficPatterns preformed thermoplastic, and people walk over it every day on their way into the auditorium.
A memorial on a route people use every day
The City of Kitchener and its partners, two Legion branches and the Royal Highland Fusiliers, wanted a permanent Remembrance Day tribute on a route people use every day, in a material that would outlast paint. MultiSeal heat-applied the TrafficPatterns to the asphalt during off-peak hours, and the crossing was back in service ahead of Remembrance Day.
The Product Portfolio Book gives the crossing a page of its own, page 115: "Community. Respect. In honour of those who served and sacrificed."
Why the material matters on a memorial
A memorial crosswalk has two jobs. It is a crosswalk first, so it has to tell drivers that people are crossing and keep its grip underfoot. It also carries a design the community will look at for years, so the colour has to stay.
TrafficPatterns is made in the factory to the design, then heat-applied on site, where it bonds to the asphalt or concrete. The anti-skid aggregate runs through the full thickness of the material, so the grip lasts as long as the colour. The crossing opens to traffic within hours, and its service life is 8+ years.
Who signs off on a memorial crosswalk
A memorial crosswalk sits on a public road, so the city's engineering and traffic staff approve the location, the design and the material. In Kitchener, city staff, two Legion branches and a regiment each had a stake in the design and the message.
Legion branches across Canada are asking their towns for the same thing. In March 2026, Kincardine's council approved a Lest We Forget crosswalk for Royal Canadian Legion Branch 183, at the crossing nearest the Legion, timed for the branch's 100th anniversary.
Other community crossings come together the same way. The Town of Georgina, Ontario, has a TrafficPatterns crosswalk honouring the Every Child Matters movement. In Sechelt, British Columbia, a pictograph crosswalk at Cowrie Street and Trail Avenue tells the origin story of the shíshálh Nation, designed with artists Dionne Paul and Lindsey Kyoko Adams. The artwork comes from the partner, the approval from the city, and the material and the installation from HUB and its certified installers.
What the design can carry
TrafficPatterns is made to the design, so a crossing can carry lettering, crests, symbols and fine line work. Kitchener's carries a soldier's silhouette and the words Lest We Forget. At UBC in Vancouver, the Musqueam crosswalk weaves the UBC and Musqueam crests together to acknowledge that the campus stands on unceded Musqueam territory. For the colours, the colour guide sets out the palettes.
Before you specify
| Question | Who answers it |
|---|---|
| Does the location meet the criteria for a marked crosswalk? | The city's traffic engineers |
| Who owns the design, and who approves it on a public road? | The community partner and the city |
| How much detail and colour can the material carry? | HUB, from the artwork |
| What service life can it give in this climate and traffic? | HUB, for the system specified |
Next step
A Lunch & Learn brings TrafficPatterns samples and jobs like Kitchener's to your team, in your office or online, and lunch is on us. The TrafficPatterns spec sheet is in the specification library, and a printed Product Portfolio Book shows the Kitchener crossing on page 115.
