Press Release - July 23, 2008

Mismanagement in Montreal West; Public Safety is Jeopardized

Police last week began ticketing motorists who drove through the traffic barrier that Montreal West erected where Broughton Avenue turns into des Erables Street in Lachine.



Concrete flower pots were put down on the road with a gap between them for emergency vehicles but signs posted on the barrier say “no entry.” Police are now enforcing that barrier and tickets cost $154.The barrier cuts off the main road access into the Hillcrest/Rosewood/Mount Vernon (HRMV) neighbourhood of Lachine.

“It probably costs taxpayers over $100 an hour to have two police officers sitting in a squad car with the engine running there,” commented HRMV resident Pat Schmidt. “But there is no reason to have a police squad car idling on this quiet residential street. A short distance away you have to take your life into your hands trying to traverse busy Westminster Street on a crosswalk. That’s where there have been accidents and where the police presence is needed!”

“Although Montreal West Public Works Department has easily found the time to erect a traffic barrier where there was no traffic to speak of, and to change the signage on that barrier three times in five weeks, they cannot find the time to repaint crosswalks obliterated by last winter’s snow. It’s almost the end of July now; this is mismanagement.”

“Some of Westminster Street intersections (at Sherbrooke, Ainslie and Avon) are very confusing at the best of times, and without the painted lines to guide motorists, these are quite dangerous. There are no traffic lights in Montreal West and this makes painted lines all that more important. It is incredible that Montreal West Mayor Stuart is so obsessed with erecting and enforcing an unneeded barrier that he is blind to where the real traffic problems are.”

On June 5, Montreal West erected a barrier on Broughton ostensibly to protect pedestrians on local streets. Ironically, the only incidents with pedestrians being hit by cars there in recent years involved three people standing on a crosswalk on June 9 protesting against the barrier and being struck by two irate Montreal West motorists. Criminal charges are now pending for hit-and-run driving. “Rather than promoting pedestrian safety, the barrier is having the contrary effect,” concludes Schmidt.

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