I am 67 years old, I have lived continuously in downtown Quebec, Saint-Jean-Baptiste and Montcalm for 30 years. I have never had a car and I travel on foot or by bus for 99% of my activities, shopping, appointments, cultural activities and various outings. Walking costs nothing, it’s good for health and morale.
I am happy to have many amenities within walking distance. I also like to walk around and take pictures of our beautiful city, for fun! My pleasure often turns into a bad mood and a feeling of being treated unfairly. Sidewalks are not always in good condition, snow removal is not always up to scratch, safety is not always optimal. But there is more.
The systemic discrimination of pedestrians in Quebec, and this is where the heart of my remarks lies, has reached an unequaled degree of sophistication! We are constantly told that we encourage active mobility, including walking, for health, for the environment. It’s wrong. We have regressed, pedestrians have it less easy now in Quebec than before.
The manager ? The aptly named arterial manager, which raises… my blood pressure! It is a system that remotely controls traffic lights: intersections are observed by camera, supervised by a learned engineer. This system was put in place by former mayor Régis Labeaume, at a cost of $9 million in 2017, and continued by the current Marchand administration.
Doesn’t that sound mean? Think again ! This system has taken the pedestrian as an enemy, as a scapegoat! Priority is given to the fluidity of traffic. That means car priority. For the fluidity of pedestrians, we will go back.
It is even a scandal, and it is time to denounce it. You are at Place Ste-Foy and you want to go to Laval University. You are at the intersection, you activate the pedestrian light, you wait, wait… You check: the button has gone out! We make all the cars pass, we crown ourselves the pedestrian.
You can start over, and the pedestrian light will still make you stupid! You wait long minutes and it’s never your turn! Is that what encouraging active mobility is? We must admit that the result rather encourages pedestrians not to wait for the pedestrian light.
Pedestrian safety is not just the pedestrian’s business! It’s repeated everywhere in the city, I know it, I walk and I taste it. To say that a pedestrian can receive an infraction, in addition to making him laugh at him. Our municipal authorities hold a false discourse to clear their conscience and project a beautiful image. This is not how we encourage returning to the city and neighborhood life.
Mr. Marchand, put an end, to all business, to this system which discriminates against pedestrians, the most vulnerable road users. No need to go to Scandinavia, Paris, Le Havre, Tunis or Bordeaux, the solution is here and it is simple: a little consideration for pedestrians. My advice is free, and this change costs taxpayers nothing and does not require a project office. I just hope that this common-sense solution isn’t too simple for the municipal authorities. Finally, walk the talk: give real priority to pedestrians!