Portions of three streets in Montreal will become one-way only in the Ville-Marie borough, in the area surrounding the spot where a seven-year-old girl from Ukraine was killed in a hit-and-run in December.
“When you do this combined with other measures, it’s a lot about limiting people using neighbourhoods like this one as a shortcut,” said Montreal mayor Valérie Plante.
Fullum street will become one-way only northbound, between Ontario and Sherbrooke.
Parthenais street will also be one-way only northbound between De Rouen and Sherbrooke.
De Rouen street will be one-way only towards the east, between Fullum and D’Iberville streets.
Plante says the measures were already in the plans but Mariia Legenkovska’s death near the intersection of Parthenais and De Rouen accelerated the implementation.
Legenkovska had come to Canada with her family to flee the war in Ukraine. Her death served as a wake-up call for many.
“The intersection where Mariia was hit — there’s just going to be far fewer cars that are going to be passing through here, so the risks are going to decrease,” said Chris McCray, a member of the Collectif Apaisement Pour Sainte-Marie.
“Hopefully these changes will inspire other boroughs to do the same.”
During rush hour, residents describe traffic in the area as a nightmare that produces constant accidents.
“The speed limit is not respected and the sheer number of cars also, as you can see, is really disagreeable,” said Carl St-Denis as he crossed the street at the intersection of Fullum and De Rouen streets. St-Denis is a member of Le Comité de la rue Fullum.
“Imagine an eight-year-old crossing on its own, going to school here, it’s really stressful.”
With several schools in the area, people’s frustrations with high traffic have reached their limit and they showed their anger to city officials.
“Cars stink, kill and pollute” shouted an angry resident at the mayor as he interrupted her press conference announcing traffic-calming measures.
The man continued to criticize the mayor’s decision to change the street’s direction.
“We’re in a climate emergency and you’re talking about one-way streets after a seven-year-old kid is killed? That’s what you come with?” the man said.
Marco Sousa, a driver in the area doesn’t see the point in making the changes.
“We could drive anywhere else, what difference does it make if it’s this street?” Sousa said while driving on Parthenais Street.
Plante says the measures will be implemented during the summer break and will be ready in time for back to school.
Other initiatives such as speed bumps and the widening of sidewalks will be added throughout the course of the year.
Comments