Crossing the urban jungle: Crémazie Boulevard's pedestrian problem
Cars, trucks and pedestrians compete for green lights, but safety advocates say that must change
The concrete jungle of Crémazie Boulevard isn't exactly a pedestrian's dream, with cars whizzing by on their way to Highway 40 and crossing lights few and far between.
The result: 33 pedestrians and cyclists have been involved in accidents along the major artery in the Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension borough in the past two years, according to Montreal police.
All that may be about to change. A new Pedestrian and Cyclist Association in the borough is looking for suggestions to improve safety in the area and will hold its first public meeting on Feb. 5.
Rachel Shugart is one of its co-founders.
"If you use a bike, if you walk, if you use public transit — you have a right to have your voice heard and bring forward to the city your ideas of what would make things better," said Shugart. "So I hope that we get a lot of citizen input."
With sections of Crémazie topping Montreal's list of most dangerous intersections in 2016, what improvements would people who frequent or live in the area like to see?
Put pedestrians first
Océanne Brodeur lives a few blocks from the busy stretch but says she always uses Crémazie Metro's underground tunnel to get across the street. The one time she did try to cross the road, it almost ended in disaster.
"The car just stopped in front of me — he almost hit me … I was scared."
SOLUTION: Minimize pedestrians' and drivers' need to compete with motorized vehicles to cross the street by creating separate crossing signals for both.
"They could stop at every street and put some lights for walking, and then the cars can go," said Brodeur.
Add more clear crosswalks
Fadi El Ahmar is the owner of Sports Highway, a boutique overlooking Crémazie Boulevard near Saint-Denis Street.
On one corner of Saint-Denis, pedestrians aren't allowed to cross — but many don't notice the signs telling them so. All day, El Ahmar watches confused pedestrians dart across heavy traffic.
"It's very crazy, you know, because there are always too many cars, and sometimes people almost get into accidents."
SOLUTION: Add more traffic lights, which are few and far between along the artery.
"Maybe if they would put some [more] lights, it [would be] easier to pass," said El Ahmar. "If not, you have to go really far."
Enforce rules of the road
Ibrahim Soirée waits for the bus outside Crémazie Metro as part of his commute. He sees both drivers and pedestrians taking risks by breaking the rules of the road every day, with few consequences.
"It's individual people who need to respect the rules, because looking at the structure [of Highway 40] here, I don't see what else can be done."
SOLUTION: While Soirée doesn't have a solution, others, like Karim Zehrouni, would like to see more police patrols in the area.
Zehrouni avoids coming to the area with his young child, because rules are so often flouted.
"I seldom see any police cars around here, it's very rare. And when they do show up, everybody behaves," he said.
Montreal police say they are aware the area is a high-risk zone for accidents, and they plan on stationing more officers along that stretch of Crémazie Boulevard this year.