(Drummondville) Municipalities that want to lower the speed limit on a road under the jurisdiction of the provincial government on their territory will more easily have the ear of the Ministry of Transport, according to a bill which will be tabled this year by Geneviève Guilbault, Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility.
What there is to know
Quebec wants to give more latitude to municipalities in terms of security.
The first “Pedestrians and Pedestrians Above All” summit took place this week in Drummondville against a backdrop of worsening road tolls.
Several municipalities, including Strasbourg, France, are discovering the virtues of a city where travel on foot is on the rise.
“In several municipalities I go to, I am told that they want to change the speed limit, but that we must request approval [au Ministère] », Said Minister Guilbault on Tuesday to The Press.
Mme Guilbault intends to submit the first action plan on relations between the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility and municipalities, which will, among other things, “revise the ministerial process for processing municipal requests to modify speed limits”, in the words from the Ministry.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESS
Geneviève Guilbault, Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility
“It will be submitted before the end of the year,” said Mme Guilbault. We have had discussions with the municipal unions who say they are very satisfied with this plan, so it will go in the direction of giving more power of autonomy to the cities while always having a framework obviously so as not to make any nonsense. anything, anywhere. »
The minister was speaking on the sidelines of the summit “Pedestrians and pedestrians above all: acting together for a Quebec that works”, organized by Piétons Québec, which brought together 200 participants at the Centrexpo Cogeco in Drummondville, Monday and Tuesday. This is the first summit to address pedestrian issues in the province, and it takes place as road tolls deteriorate for the most vulnerable road users.
A total of 79 pedestrians lost their lives last year in Quebec, an increase of 22.7% in deaths compared to 2021. Children and the elderly are over-represented among the dead and seriously injured in relation to their weight. demographic.
Catherine Fournier, mayor of Longueuil, one of the summit panelists, spoke of the importance for elected officials to place the needs of children and adolescents at the center of decisions related to the development of public roads.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Catherine Fournier, mayor of Longueuil
“If, for example, we want to remove parking spaces to add a cycle path, the people we hear from in the public consultations are often the people who are against it. But the children and adolescents who will use this path to be independent, to go to school, to go to the park, they do not come to the consultations. And therefore, as elected officials, we must demonstrate courage and vision in these issues,” she said, adding that the facilities are used by the population “from day 1” when they are accessible and safe.
On the sidelines of the summit, Mme Fournier noted that the next step for Longueuil was to see to the implementation of calming measures in all neighborhoods of the city. “In more advantaged neighborhoods, citizens have historically requested and received security amenities, while in other less advantaged neighborhoods, there are no or few amenities. That’s what we want to change. »
Little revolution in Strasbourg
Noémie Meyer, cycling thematic project manager for the City and Eurometropolis of Strasbourg, listed a series of “encouraging” results in terms of active travel experienced in recent years by the metropolis of Strasbourg, which has more than 500,000 inhabitants.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY NOÉMIE MEYER
Noémie Meyer, cycling thematic project manager for the City and Eurometropolis of Strasbourg
“If you look at photos of Strasbourg 50 years ago, there were cars everywhere,” she said in an interview. The car was seen as the means of transport of the future in cities, and Strasbourg was no exception. »
The first pedestrian zone in the city center was developed in 1973. Since then, several initiatives have taken place to reduce the extent of cars on public roads and the number of parking spaces, and increase the number of pedestrian streets and cycle paths. Organized every year in June, the “Work by bike” competition pits companies against each other, who try to win by accumulating the kilometers traveled by bike by their employees. Governments also offer subsidies for the purchase of an electric bike.
The results are encouraging, says Mme Meyer. “The modal share of the car is decreasing, that of bicycles, public transport and walking is increasing,” she says, adding that the car will always be used, especially by people with reduced mobility, just not for all journeys. .
Despite the successes, each new project arouses passions, she adds.
“Every time we want to pedestrianize or create a cycle path on the right-of-way reserved for cars, we always encounter resistance. However, in hindsight, the traders and residents appreciate it and ask us why we hadn’t done that before. »