In his op-ed piece on December 17th, former mayor of Montreal West Campbell
Stuart presents a mishmash of misrepresentations and unsupported facts to
divert readers from some basic truths. He also shamelessly frames the argument
as a choice between cars and children. Mr. Stuart, nobody is against the
children - we just believe streets are for cars.
We also believe in being factually correct, something that doesn’t seem to factor into Mr. Stuart’s editorial.
We also believe in being factually correct, something that doesn’t seem to factor into Mr. Stuart’s editorial.
The claim that “the traffic is dangerous”
in this area is fascinating. We could find no reports of a motor vehicle accident
involving a child or an adult on Broughton or any of its adjoining streets. Aside
from a low volume flow of cars at morning and evening rush period – at least
half turning into driveways on local streets in Montreal West and the adjoining
St. Pierre district of Lachine - the
streets are deserted enough the rest of the day to play rounds of croquet.
To help with the image of children at risk, Mr. Stuart brings up Royal West Academy students as being ‘in the firing line’ of traffic that this blockade apparently helps protect. But if you look at a map, you’ll see that the barricade now directs more traffic towards the confusing five corner intersection at the corner of Avon/St. Jacques and Westminster. This intersection is heavily used by students and other pedestrians, has no traffic light, and has been the scene of accidents. So the barricade actually makes the situation more dangerous for Montreal West students and other pedestrians.
And according to Mr. Stuart, the police in Station 9 think the barricade is a good idea, because they don’t have to worry anymore about ticketing illegal short-cutters. He neglects to mention that the fire department thinks the barricade is dangerous and should be removed. In “24 heures” in November,
To help with the image of children at risk, Mr. Stuart brings up Royal West Academy students as being ‘in the firing line’ of traffic that this blockade apparently helps protect. But if you look at a map, you’ll see that the barricade now directs more traffic towards the confusing five corner intersection at the corner of Avon/St. Jacques and Westminster. This intersection is heavily used by students and other pedestrians, has no traffic light, and has been the scene of accidents. So the barricade actually makes the situation more dangerous for Montreal West students and other pedestrians.
And according to Mr. Stuart, the police in Station 9 think the barricade is a good idea, because they don’t have to worry anymore about ticketing illegal short-cutters. He neglects to mention that the fire department thinks the barricade is dangerous and should be removed. In “24 heures” in November,
Gilles Ducharme of SIM (Service de sécurité d’incendie de Montreal)
categorically stated “Montreal West ignored our recommendations…Our job is to
save life and the seconds we lose with this kind of obstruction can make the
difference between life and death.”
Mr. Stuart also refers to two traffic studies (CIMA and TRAFIX) commissioned in 2002, one by Montreal West and the other by Lachine. But apparently he has not read these studies because neither of them recommended barricading Broughton Rd. You can download these studies from our website www.devilshill.blogspot.com and see for yourself. Then note that the evening and morning traffic counts in these studies were tabulated before Montreal West implemented a host of traffic calming and diverting measures that greatly reduced the number of motorists on its streets. But Montreal West did not conduct any new traffic counts to see how well these changes worked prior to building the present barricade.
Mr. Stuart also presents a misleading version of some of the traffic diverting measures that Lachine tried and then abandoned back in 2002 to deal with Montreal West traffic complaints. We spoke at length with Lachine Mayor Claude Dauphin. He relays a very different version of events – one that he would be very happy to document in a future editorial.
And finally Mr. Stuart writes that, “The protesters in Lachine have had an extraordinary amount of high-powered help in their attempts to bully Montreal West.” The high powered interests he refers to must be the recent successful efforts to keep this subject open to debate. Our ‘powerhouse’ group is
all-volunteer and features a pre-school educator, a stage-hand, an aquarium builder, a stand-up comedian and a documentary filmmaker. Apparently, the ability to use a YouTube video to get dialogue going rather than relying on lawyers to shut it down with blurred facts makes us high rollers.
Mr. Stuart also refers to two traffic studies (CIMA and TRAFIX) commissioned in 2002, one by Montreal West and the other by Lachine. But apparently he has not read these studies because neither of them recommended barricading Broughton Rd. You can download these studies from our website www.devilshill.blogspot.com and see for yourself. Then note that the evening and morning traffic counts in these studies were tabulated before Montreal West implemented a host of traffic calming and diverting measures that greatly reduced the number of motorists on its streets. But Montreal West did not conduct any new traffic counts to see how well these changes worked prior to building the present barricade.
Mr. Stuart also presents a misleading version of some of the traffic diverting measures that Lachine tried and then abandoned back in 2002 to deal with Montreal West traffic complaints. We spoke at length with Lachine Mayor Claude Dauphin. He relays a very different version of events – one that he would be very happy to document in a future editorial.
And finally Mr. Stuart writes that, “The protesters in Lachine have had an extraordinary amount of high-powered help in their attempts to bully Montreal West.” The high powered interests he refers to must be the recent successful efforts to keep this subject open to debate. Our ‘powerhouse’ group is
all-volunteer and features a pre-school educator, a stage-hand, an aquarium builder, a stand-up comedian and a documentary filmmaker. Apparently, the ability to use a YouTube video to get dialogue going rather than relying on lawyers to shut it down with blurred facts makes us high rollers.
We do know that many citizens in Montreal West see through the fog and don’t
support blocking off an adjoining community’s streets. That is a fact we can prove
with two pages of over 80 resident signatures
gathered in less than two hours this past weekend. You can see a new video of our Christmas caroling and petition efforts filmed in Montreal West this past weekend at http://bit.ly/gcNoPo
gathered in less than two hours this past weekend. You can see a new video of our Christmas caroling and petition efforts filmed in Montreal West this past weekend at http://bit.ly/gcNoPo
There may well be a history of bullying in
this debate. However, we don’t think it comes from a group of citizens trying
to find a safer, more humane solution to the adjacent community’s traffic
perceptions. We think there is a very simple way to find out if you are being
bullied by powerful interests. Get up in the morning and look down the street.
Check to see if there is a barricade.
By Maureen Marovitch & Scott Faulconbridge with the Devil’s Hill Safety Committee (Marylène Audet, Dany Delage, Peter Fedun, David Finch, Michel Forget, Colleen Parish, Pat Schmidt, John Symon and
Judy Tennant)
By Maureen Marovitch & Scott Faulconbridge with the Devil’s Hill Safety Committee (Marylène Audet, Dany Delage, Peter Fedun, David Finch, Michel Forget, Colleen Parish, Pat Schmidt, John Symon and
Judy Tennant)
