intersection

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

In yet another project that will pit motorists against cyclists and pedestrians, the City of Montreal has announced that it will finally be doing something about one of the busiest, most danger-prone intersections: De Maisonneuve at Décarie, near the MUHC Glen site and the Vendome train and metro hub. The busy corner is in the heart of the Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough. But whether the plan will solve or cause more problems has yet to be seen.

One thing is sure: pedestrians and cyclists love the plan, but motorists do not.

Even the borough considers it one of the most dangerous areas in the city, one of the most complicated, and confusing. In the past decade there have been two pedestrian deaths, and countless accidents.

The current configuration was supposed to have been a temporary measure, done just ahead of the Glen hospital launch. But temporary turned into nine years.

The city held an online information session last Thanksgiving Monday to introduce the new plan, which involves completely cutting off access to motorists on the stretch of De Maisonneuve between Décarie and Prud’homme. The intersection is, for all intents and purposes, a five-way intersection. It will be turned into what Jason Savard of the Association of Pedestrians and Cyclists of NDG calls “a traditional four-way intersection.” As it stands, there is a westbound ramp leading from Décarie north, and an eastbound block leading to Décarie south. Furthermore, right now cars coming off of the southbound Décarie expressway are allowed to turn left – eastbound – off of Addington to access the hospital via Décarie. That will no longer be allowed as De Maisonneuve will be designated one-way westbound. So anyone coming off of the expressway will be diverted west and have to drive north to make their way east on Sherbrooke to head downtown, or to turn south onto Décarie, again, to access the hospital.

Cyclists, however, will be allowed two-way access between Prud’homme and Décarie.

To add to that – or rather to subtract from it – vehicular traffic between De Maisonneuve and Claremont will be reduced to two lanes with a special drop-off zone for buses at Vendome station, widened bicycle paths, and the addition of a new bike path on Upper Lachine Road.

Jason Savard of the Association of Pedestrians and Cyclists of NDG says they’ve been pushing for this for a while. To allay motorists’ worries, Savard points out that they’re not really losing very much in either direction. “I think it’s safer for all road users, not just pedestrians and cyclists, but for motorists also.” It will cut down, he said, on the risky manoeuvres everyone had been using to get through the intersection, to get to and from the hospital. n