Heavy traffic in front of an elementary school located on the Plateau-Mont-Royal in Montreal and motorists who adopt behavior deemed dangerous make parents grit their teeth and exasperate a crossing guard, who has to fight daily to enforce the rules and who suffers of incivility.
“It’s a mess, I’m always in misery here,” says Carole Viau, crossing guard, who has worked for several years at the intersection of Boulevard Saint-Joseph and Avenue des Érables, on a street corner. from Avenue De Lorimier. “This year, it’s worse than usual,” she says. During our visit on Friday morning in front of the Saint-Pierre-Claver primary school, the traffic was less dense than in the middle of the week. But trucks, sometimes 53 feet long, buses and cars still almost systematically blocked the pedestrian crossing used by children at traffic lights.
The place is deadlock paradise, prohibited by the Highway Safety Code. Vehicles entering the intersection too quickly cannot cross, finding themselves stuck in line behind other cars when the light turns red. The crossing guard and the parents with whom The duty discussed denounce the behavior of motorists and also blame an increase in traffic, caused among other things by recent one-way changes, streets blocked by work and the pedestrianization of Avenue du Mont-Royal for the summer period.
Mme Viau makes a point of calling drivers to order and sometimes curtly asks them to back up to make the passage safe. They don’t always react well. “I try to tell them, but sometimes they close their window or they send me away, give me the finger,” explains the woman who has heard a whole range of insults ranging from “screw it, big bitch” to “big bitch”.
“Last week, I almost got hit,” she continues. A motorist leaned her car against the crossing guard’s leg, without stopping. “We are not respected at all”, she drops, admitting to finding the situation cumbersome, even if she likes her job.
On rue des Érables, a gray van with a “Schoolchildren” sign engages in a prohibited maneuver to turn right while the light is red, under the gaze of two young children. Amazed, the crossing guard made energetic signs for the driver to stop the vehicle.
“There is too much traffic on Saint-Joseph, and the cars are tired of waiting. Whenever they can move forward, they move forward, drops Richard Rispoli, who comes to drive his child to school. I think this will be resolved when the pedestrian streets reopen. »
A debate is underway, particularly among parents: should Avenue du Mont-Royal reopen to automobile traffic earlier, during the start of the school year? “That’s my opinion,” said Richard Rispoli. Motorists wait for hours to go to work, it’s not pleasant for them either and I put myself in everyone’s place. »
Some people find that behavior improves when police are present. Laughing, Brigadier Carole Viau says she recently asked an officer to install a mannequin dressed as a police officer on the street corner. The Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) did not respond to our request for an interview on Friday.
The police sometimes carry out “blitzes” in certain more problematic areas to issue tickets, which can vary from $110 to $320. The amount of these could, however, be increased, believes Marianne Giguère, municipal councilor for Projet Montréal in the De Lorimier district.
“Minister Guilbault talked about increasing fines for offenses that endanger children in school zones,” she said. If we took deadlock more seriously with a fine to match, that would help people think about it. »
The problem is not new, she adds, and it is widespread in the Plateau-Mont-Royal. “This existed eight years ago when my children were going to school, and there were no one-way changes or pedestrianization, and there was no bridge-tunnel work,” recalls -She. Opinions are still very divided on the dates of closure of Mont-Royal Avenue. »
According to her, motorists are not aware that this is an offense, and she believes that the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) should carry out awareness campaigns. “The City does not have the reach of the SAAQ and cannot advertise during prime time,” thinks the elected official, who is convinced that the problem is experienced everywhere in Quebec.