Four months after the death of Mariia Legenkovska, fatally hit on the way to school last December, Montreal announces that it will multiply the speed bumps in the borough of Ville-Marie and will close three streets in order to calm car traffic.
A series of calming measures, including the establishment of one-way streets in the Sainte-Marie district, had already been unveiled last January. These will be implemented over the summer. Thursday, other interventions were announced because the City wishes to “accelerate” the securing of residential streets struggling with major through traffic problems due to the proximity of the Jacques-Cartier bridge and the effects of the bridge construction site. Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel.
Thus, 110 new permanent speed bumps are planned in the three districts of Ville-Marie, particularly in school zones. Currently, Ville-Marie has only about twenty, some of which were removable. “We are really changing the safety culture in Ville-Marie,” said the manager of transport and mobility on the executive committee, Sophie Mauzerolle.
Eight streets will be redeveloped, three of which will be permanently closed to traffic. This is the case of a section of rue Larivière, between avenue De Lorimier and rue Parthenais, which will disappear, which will make it possible to combine two portions of the parc des Royaux, an operation that is similar to what been done in the past at Parc Médéric-Martin and Parc Baldwin, in the Plateau-Mont-Royal. The right turn, from De Lorimier, was already prohibited during the morning and afternoon rush hours on rue Larivière, but motorists were not concerned about it, according to observations made by the City.
A section of Ottawa Street, near the Forges de Montréal, as well as a section of Sussex Street, near the Sanaaq center, will also be closed to traffic. New developments will also be made on Berthier, Sainte-Rose, du Square-Amherst and Clark streets.
Other interventions are being planned to allow, in particular, the development of sidewalk projections and the securing of the surroundings of schools. “People are impatient and ask us to go faster — with good reason and I understand them — but our city was designed around the automobile. So it’s a lot of work and we’re going one bite at a time, ”admitted Sophie Mauzerolle.
electroshock
“It’s really encouraging. We are elsewhere. It is certain that death [de Mariia Legenkovska] raised awareness,” says Carl St-Denis, from the Collectif appeasement pour Sainte-Marie. “It’s as if we had taken an electroshock in the Ville-Marie borough, especially in Sainte-Marie where there are schools. »
He is particularly pleased with the closure of rue Larivière given the delinquency of many motorists despite the ban on right turns. “The violation rate was almost 100%. It is ridiculously not respected, both in the morning and in the evening. It was necessary to close it permanently, ”he believes.
For the moment, the measures announced since January, including changes in the direction of streets, have not yet materialized, the City preferring to wait until the end of classes. Mr. St-Denis also points out that the Parthenais / De Rouen intersection, where Mariia Legenkovska was fatally hit, is still the scene of intense automobile traffic. “It’s still used as a GPS shortcut today. We can’t wait for July. »
If the citizen collective is delighted with the City’s announcements, it does not intend to stop demanding additional measures to reduce through traffic. The group has in particular in its sights Sherbrooke Street which is very congested and unfriendly for pedestrians and cyclists.
The Montreal Regional Council for the Environment (CRE) also welcomed the City’s announcements, which “will help to strengthen the quality of living environments and restore active travel to its rightful place in many areas around and in the city center “.
Since the beginning of the year, five people, three pedestrians and two motorists, have lost their lives as a result of road collisions on Montreal territory, indicated the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM).