Shocked by the death of 7-year-old Mariia Legenkovska, killed by a driver in a Montreal school zone last month, dozens of parents and children marched on Tuesday to ask elected officials to tackle the dangers caused by motorized travel. Already, the City promises to “accelerate the pace”.
“Such a tragic event must not happen again, in our neighborhood or elsewhere,” said Chris McCray, a resident who co-founded the Appeasement Collective for Sainte-Marie with neighbors.
Among the proposed solutions, he notes that it is urgent to calm the flow of motorized vehicles in the neighborhood by creating one-way streets, which would put an end to transit trips on residential streets. Bollards, speed bumps and sidewalk projections would then play the role of reducing the speed of motorists in this district, which has one of the highest population densities in North America, with 5,397 inhabitants per square kilometer.
“It takes more than floor markings. It takes more than signs,” he said. The district has two secondary schools, five primary schools, in addition to some twenty early childhood service points.
Several students took part in the march, along rue De Rouen, which resumed the route taken by Mariia Legenkovska on the morning of December 13. The young Ukrainian refugee was on her way to the nearby Jean-Baptiste-Meilleur school with her brother and sister when she was struck to death by the driver of an SUV. He fled and then surrendered to the authorities.
On Tuesday, several parents expressed their concern about the “wild transit” in their neighborhood, a situation that forms a contrast with the Plateau Mont-Royal borough, which has installed many one-way streets, sidewalk overhangs and speed bumps over the years.
The City promises to accelerate
Montreal, for its part, announced Tuesday that during the year 2023, the surroundings of 50 establishments frequented by children, including schools and daycare centers as well as two parks, will be secured. About fifty schools had already been secured in the last three years, but the City now wants to “accelerate the pace”.
“We know that there really are road safety issues, so it’s important to tackle them. […] What we’re seeing is really an epidemic of collisions right now. There may be one more turn of the wheel to give, ”acknowledged the head of mobility on the executive committee, Sophie Mauzerolle.
Securing an intersection makes it possible to add speed bumps, pedestrian countdown lights, raised intersections, sidewalk projections, or to widen the latter. Cycle paths can also be set up.
A call for projects has already been launched with the boroughs, which will have one year to implement the facilities. So far, 42 projects have already been selected in 13 boroughs, affecting approximately 15,000 students. “What we hear from citizens is that we have to go harder and faster. There is another call for projects coming up. We will be able to really increase the pace, ”insisted Mme Mauzerolle.
A program to secure intersections located near institutions for seniors – which are “overrepresented” in collision statistics – should also see the light of day this year.
The City claims to be “proactive”, having doubled the budget for Vision Zero, which reaches 158 million by 2032. The budgets devoted to street planning have also been “substantially increased”. Montreal, however, implores Quebec and Ottawa to invest more in securing the streets.
Speed limits not respected
A radar observation made by The Press last month in front of the Jean-Baptiste-Meilleur school revealed that essentially no motorist respected the 30 km / h limit in this school zone, with peaks of more than 60 km / h regularly recorded on the Fullum, a sloping street with no speed calming measures such as speed bumps or photo radar.
“In Ville-Marie, it is the fluidity of transport that is king, and pedestrians, children, they only have a small piece of sidewalk, and even more,” says Roselyne Escarras, who has lived in the neighborhood for several years.
Mme Escarras notes that citizens have been asking the borough team for years to calm traffic, requests that have not led to concrete changes around her home. “The Iberville and De Rouen intersection is a place of death. You have to be with the kids all the time, because you never know if motorists are going to stop at a red light. »
Lany-Jade Mondou, mother of a 12-year-old boy, says she worries every morning when he makes the trip to school. “We teach our children to respect pedestrian lights, traffic lights. But what happens if a driver in a hurry does not stop in time? It’s such a dangerous place here. People drive way too fast. It’s not once in a while, it’s everyday. »
Hugues Lévesque, brigadier at the corner of Sherbrooke and De Lorimier streets, said he was so affected by the death of little Mariia that he went on sick leave a few days after the tragedy. “I was crossing one morning with a little boy and a motorist almost ran into us. He stopped at the last millimeter. I said, “No, I need a break.” You have the life of the children as a responsibility when you arrive in the morning. Drivers don’t think about that. They just want to get through as quickly as possible. »
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- A petition launched by citizens of Ville-Marie asks elected officials to put in place traffic calming facilities in order to “reduce the real speed” of motorists and to “reduce the flow of traffic and discourage through traffic” especially on residential streets. The petition had collected 1,135 signatures as of Tuesday. A meeting with residents of the neighborhood and Valérie Plante is scheduled for Thursday.
petition posted on CHANGE.ORG