Citizens who live in the sector of Parthenais and Rouen streets, near the intersection where a seven-year-old girl died last December, denounce certain changes in the direction of streets decreed by the Plante administration to calm traffic. According to them, these measures were taken without consultation and will make their car journeys even more difficult.
Resident of Bordeaux Street, Daniel Pelletier wonders how he will be able to get home when the City applies the changes in street direction planned for next fall. Presenting himself as a “first and foremost cyclist”, but also a motorist, he fears that with the changes to come, he will have no choice but to find himself in the sometimes chaotic congestion of Sherbrooke Street and the avenue Papineau, for lack of other options to return home. “I am not a commuter. I am a Montrealer who wants to go home,” he told Mayor Valérie Plante during the Ville-Marie borough council meeting on May 9.
Last January, the Plante administration announced the establishment of one-way streets in the area by the start of the next school year. Parthenais Street will become a one-way street north between Rouen and Sherbrooke streets, which will require a change to the 10 bus route. Fullum Street, which borders Jean-Baptiste-Meilleur school, which the young Mariia Legenkovska, fatally hit by a motorist on December 13, will be transformed into a one-way northbound between Ontario and Sherbrooke streets. For its part, rue de Rouen will be a one-way street to the east between rue Fullum and rue D’Iberville. These measures are in addition to the permanent closure of a section of rue Larivière.
The City stays the course
Responding to several citizens who came to present their grievances to her on this subject, Mayor Plante was firm, insisting that she had to work in the collective interest and that the proposed plan had been drawn up by experts and had obtained support from partners such as the Jean-Baptiste-Meilleur school and the local CLSC. “You will be able to get home, but it may not be the same way as before and it may be more complicated. I can’t deny it,” she said. “We did not close all the streets at once. There is really a reflection that has been made. It may not be your business. I hear it. But in the end, we have to find solutions to prevent cars from using this sector for too long as a shortcut. »
Mathieu Dufour lives at the corner of Fullum and Hochelaga streets. He believes that the change in direction of rue Parthenais is particularly problematic and will force residents of the area to make multiple detours. “We had six front doors and they block five of them at once. There will remain one and that is Fullum Street. It is necessary to talk about it. Maybe we can take it gradually. But they don’t listen to us. »
The petition called “Sauvons Parthenais” that he launched has so far collected 474 signatures. The City could maintain traffic from rue Parthenais to the south, but prohibit left turns on rue Sherbrooke towards rue Parthenais, introduce a mandatory stop at the corner of rue Hochelaga, install speed bumps well visible before the intersection of rue de Rouen, he suggests.
Yves Bernard regrets that the borough did not hold a real consultation with the residents of the sector and according to him, the project is poorly put together and will cause “chaos”. “I have lived in the neighborhood for 25 years, but we have never had a note from the City to say that there was a major project,” he says. “We are in favor of traffic calming, but it has to be done in a coordinated way. »
During the borough council meeting, however, several citizens expressed their support for the measures announced by the administration. “I have a little girl who is 9 years old and who goes to Jean-Baptiste-Meilleur school and, for me, safety in the neighborhood is the number one priority. Every day, we witness traffic problems, stops that are not respected, ”explained Mélina d’Orléans.
The administration says it has heard the concerns of some residents. “We are obviously going to make sure that communications are made to properly inform the population. Our teams will also monitor the effects of the measures”, indicated by email the person in charge of transport and mobility to the executive committee, Sophie Mauzerolle.