Citizens of Saint-Jérôme are concerned about safety on the way to an elementary school where the Ministry of Transport refuses to reduce the speed despite an accident that occurred three months ago.
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“It scares me, I don’t want to walk anymore,” confides Alexie Benoît-Carbonneau, who is in sixth year at École Bellefeuille.
On December 20 around 6:45 a.m., her classmate, Patrizia de la Cruz-Albert, 12, was hit by a motorist while going to her school bus stop on Boulevard de la Salette, 2 km from the establishment.
“There are some who ride and not nearly so. There are no sidewalks, no street lights,” laments Patrizia’s father, Patrice Albert.
Fortunately, her daughter escaped unhurt, but the accident has reignited concerns about safety on the boulevard where around 100 children walk to school.
Speed
Boulevard de la Salette, opposite the school, is considered outside the school zone which is limited to two small adjacent streets.
The maximum speed is 50 km/h, but cars and trucks travel at 60, even 70 km/h, noted The newspaper.
Traffic is very heavy in the morning on the boulevard in front of Bellefeuille primary school in Saint-Jérôme.
PROVIDED BY NATHALIE LASALLE
“We are talking about a road that was rural before [et] which has become very busy: 60 km/h is too much,” insists Dominique Benoît, mother of Alexie and another girl who attend primary school.
She launched a petition signed by more than 525 people with the help of municipal councilor Nathalie Lasalle, who would like the maximum to go from 50 to 30 km/h.
Beyond the school zone
“It’s not normal to almost have to risk your life to cross a street. It’s our living environment,” criticizes the elected official.
The Ministry of Transport refuses to expand the school zone because of the thirty meter land which separates the boulevard from the school.
“The definition of “school zone” is only for the section of road that is located in front of the school, which is not the case here, therefore it is not possible to use this qualification,” explains a spokesperson, Mélissa Dion, in an email.
“It’s an issue [sic] that we see everywhere in Quebec. There are several schools that find themselves with restricted school zones in the immediate vicinity of their grounds,” underlines Sandrine Cabana-Degani, general director of Piétons Québec.
The organization would like to see 30 km/h school zones extended to school corridors of approximately 1.5 km that would allow children to walk safely to school.