On October 27, a cyclist died after being struck in the borough of Lachine, at the corner of rue Notre-Dame Ouest and avenue Saint-Pierre. Although the exact circumstances surrounding the event still remain to be clarified, several danger factors linked to this sector have been identified for a very long time. This tragedy should not be considered as a one-off event, but as the result of infrastructure unsuitable for road sharing and particularly dangerous for active transport users.
Between 2012 and 2020, data taken from official sources (Ville de Montréal and SAAQ), and presented by the Revitalization Saint-Pierre organization, identify 216 collisions involving at least one car on Saint-Pierre Avenue, only between streets Saint-Jacques and Notre-Dame Ouest. Among these intersections, it is the one with Notre-Dame Street that is the most accident-prone, with 98 collisions recorded in eight years.
For several years, issues have been raised by citizens, organizations and elected officials concerning mobility and safety in the sector. Many factors explain this situation: a discontinuous cycle path making the passage to the Saint-Pierre district very risky, the presence of heavy goods vehicles having to maneuver several times in a dangerous manner in order to be able to turn by completely blocking traffic or encroaching on the road. sidewalk, insufficient crossing time for pedestrians, high traffic speed on Notre-Dame Street on the part of motorists …
At this intersection, the development deficit for active transportation is easy to observe, and has been for a long time.
This situation is all the more risky for certain vulnerable groups due to reduced mobility. In August 2017, at the same place, an octogenarian lost her life following a collision with a truck while crossing the intersection.
The solutions exist, the actions are slow in coming
However, solutions exist and have already been identified. Several recommendations have been issued by Vélo Québec in this direction. Those concerning the Notre-Dame / Saint-Pierre intersection include: the addition of cyclist crossings to allow safe crossing of the lanes; the development of a refuge in the center of the Chaussée sur Saint-Pierre, south of Notre-Dame Street, to facilitate access to the Lachine Canal bike path; the addition of a pedestrian crossing along Notre-Dame Street; or the widening and lengthening of the sidewalk along Avenue Saint-Pierre to create a multi-use path.
The Quebec Ministry of Transport is planning a complete overhaul of the area surrounding the Saint-Pierre interchange. Profound changes are essential to the creation of a friendly environment adapted to all modes of travel including active transport and, more generally, to the opening up of the Saint-Pierre district.
But the recent tragedy and the frequency of collisions observed lead us to affirm that securing the area can no longer wait and requires improvements as soon as possible.
The diagnosis is established, the solutions exist. Now is the time to invest in order to ensure a safe and friendly experience in the sector for all those who opt for sustainable modes of transport. Unfortunately, events like the one just happened happen regularly in this area and in Montreal, and will continue to happen if nothing changes. It is time to take note of these tragedies and to implement effective and structuring measures to prevent future avoidable collisions.
* Co-signers: Enrico Ciccone, Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Marquette; Maja vodanovic, mayor of the borough of Lachine; Myriam Grondin, director of Concert’Action Lachine; Henri Chevalier, Director General of CDEC LaSalle-Lachine; Catherine houbart, Managing Director of GRAME; Jean-Francois Lefebvre, vice-president of Imagine Lachine-Est; Paul Bourque, Chairman and CEO of PABECO Inc .; Jean-Francois Rheault, President and CEO of Vélo Québec; Sandrine Cabana-Degani, director of Piétons Québec; Emmanuel Rondia, Director General of the Montreal Regional Environmental Council; Daniel Lambert, spokesperson for the Coalition Mobilité Active Montréal
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