In the past few days, we have all been touched, even shocked, by the death of a little girl following a collision with a motorist driving a sport utility vehicle.
Unfortunately, this dramatic collision adds to a black balance sheet for pedestrians and to road safety in our living environments. Despite efforts to secure the surroundings of schools, central places in the life of a district, it is clear that these interventions are limited.
The surroundings of schools are suffering the consequences of major trends in Quebec. The number and size of vehicles is steadily increasing, while the number of pedestrian trips across a generation is decreasing.
The high speed of motorists in living environments adds to the repeatedly observed non-compliance with signs and the speed limit around schools.
The solutions to road insecurity are known. Municipal interventions are desirable and many Quebec cities of all sizes are increasing the pace of their developments in favor of pedestrian safety. But it’s long, and often difficult, when it comes to investing in the “hard” and infrastructure. Meanwhile, pedestrians of all ages continue to navigate accident-prone environments.
Out of fear, many parents prefer the car to drive their children to school, contributing against their will to the spiral of road insecurity. But who would blame them when such tragedies occur?
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Bernard Street in Outremont in the summer of 2021
Draconian solutions
More drastic solutions must multiply around schools. Long-term solutions must be complemented by flexible and rapid responses, to be put in place now. The combination of an experimental strategy, of the tactical urban planning type, and initiatives such as walking buses, school streets, the revision of landing stages, must be accelerated. In Paris, nearly 170 school streets are being set up; in Montreal, a few initiatives have been tested with convincing results.
Even more, let’s take the example of commercial arteries here during the public health crisis, where rapid transitional arrangements have allowed a transformation of the relationship with the street and movement in living environments.
These developments have the common denominator of redistributing the public space for all users. Enlarging the space intended for terraces, installing street furniture for social and cultural activities, greening parking spaces, adding infrastructure that encourages cycling, painting works or marking the ground contribute to reducing the speed and number of vehicles and to make the street a true living environment rather than a transit route. These developments have also paved the way for long-term interventions to secure the city.
The last three years have demonstrated the ability to offer a rapid response to public health issues in the public domain, and the long-term safe solutions are known. What are we waiting for? It’s time to change the rules of the road game in favor of pedestrians of all ages, including children.