The intersection of Girouard and Sherbrooke has suddenly become the centre of controversy in Notre-Dame-de-Grace, as residents fume that rush hour commutes are being snarled by a number of detours.
“It’s really havoc,” one resident told Global News. “It’s almost a mental health issue,” said another. “When you’re in traffic and you see this, this is not a city working.” The problem is being exacerbated by detours from the Turcot Interchange work.
The underlying cause, city officials told Global News, is the now-demolished St-Jacques Overpass. The new one is slated to be rebuilt in about one year. When that happens, city officials will stop all traffic at the intersection for 20 seconds to let pedestrians cross in both directions.
Some residents on social media are calling for synchronized lights. McQueen told Global News that solution generally does not work, except in limited circumstances with one-way traffic, and certainly wouldn’t work at that intersection since traffic is often an issue in both directions.
McQueen said the city is considering the possibility of putting police officers at bottlenecks in the area to improve traffic during rush hour, but added the overriding need is for pedestrian safety.