Feb. 3, 2011 School Bus Crash: The West End Times article

                                             http://bit.ly/fdi8wh

School Bus loses control descending Devil's Hill during Feb. 3rd snow storm

Lachine residents deserve a safe access in and out of their neighbourhood

I was surprised by Campbell Stuart’s op-ed piece, published in The Gazette on December 17th.

My understanding is that Lachine residents simply want a safe access in and out of their neighbourhood.

I am aware that Campbell Stuart has another point of view on this issue but I think it is important to correct some of the facts exposed in his letter.

First, Mr. Stuart was not there when, in 2002, I sat down with Robert Libman, then President of the Borough of Montreal West-Hampstead -Cote St. Luc, to discuss the traffic issues that had been brought to his attention by citizens of his borough and try to find a joint solution.

Acting as a good neighbour, Lachine, even if not convinced at the time that there was really a problem there, agreed to institute a number of traffic calming measures on its side with the hope that it would help the situation in general.

In reality, Lachine never admitted that there was too much dangerous traffic there. In fact, all the studies conducted in the area over the years showed that the traffic flow on Broughton Road/ des Érables Street was minimal compared to that found on many other streets.

I would also like to rectify the fact that Lachine never broke the 2002 agreement by taking the signage down, as mentioned by Mr. Stuart. It was in fact Montreal West that withdrew from the agreement, perhaps because some of its citizens started putting a lot of pressure on the council members to adopt a more radical stance on the issue.

Finally, I am also questioning Mr. Stuart’s interpretation on the emergency services response to the barricade built by Montreal West. My understanding of Urgences Santé’s position is that they never expressed themselves and refused to take part into the debate. As with the Fire and Police Departments, they clearly expressed their discomfort with the construction of such structure by issuing written recommendations against this barricade. This issue has nothing to do with a conflict between cars and humans; it is simply the result of a municipality’s inability to take into consideration its neighbours’ reality.

Claude Dauphin

Lachine Borough Mayor