Tag Archives: Ville-Saint-Pierre

| Montreal

Great Wall of Montreal West goes back up

Just got this update about Broughton Road saying the barricade is back up:

Without any warning and while still in court, Mtl West put them up in the middle of the day. People came home greeted by a security guard and the barricade. Quite military like. Lots of emotion on Hillcrest yesterday. Lachine has not had their appeal read yet (deadline was May 30th, we submitted on time), so Montreal West had no business putting anything up as we are still in court.

For those unfamiliar with the situation, Montreal West put up a barrier on this street leading downhill to Ville-Saint-Pierre (it’s one of only two road links between the two neighbouring but elevationally unequal towns). Lachine protested, then sued, and a judge ruled in Montreal West’s favour. Now it’s in the appeal stage, and Montreal West wasn’t supposed to put up a barrier until the appeal process had been exhausted.

Looks like that’s not the case.

Instead, Montreal West put up three “do not enter” signs marked “emergency exit only” (the fact they used “exit” instead of “entry” says something too) in both directions, and Lachine is taking them to court … again.

| In the news, Montreal, Opinion

Montreal West wins this round

Montreal West has won a judgment in its favour concerning the whole Broughton Rd. Montreal West/Ville Saint-Pierre saga. Already Montreal West is being cheered by its residents and Lachine is vowing to appeal.

The dispute is over concrete barriers Montreal West put up at the border between the two towns in March. MoWest said it was to curb dangerous traffic that speeds through town as a shortcut to Highway 20 West. Lachine/VSP said it was class warfare, designed to separate the rich residents of Montreal West from the poor working class down the hill.

Of course, they’re both right.

The barrier will stay down until the appeal is decided.

| Montreal

It’s a war zone out there, apparently

It seems Montreal West is still trying to make the case that a barrier along the border with Ville Saint-Pierre is for traffic control and not segregation. Since I’m still convinced that this traffic problem is a figment of their imaginations, it makes quotes like this all the more ludicrous:

Residents of the southwest sector of Montreal West have been subjected to an increase in high-speed, dangerously aggressive traffic as more cars, trucks and semis use these residential streets as a shortcut.

Semis? Really? OK, then. I’ll give anyone $20 who can take a picture of a semi or other large, non-local truck barrelling down Broughton St. at high speed recently. These trucks couldn’t even navigate these streets, much less race through them at high speed.

The opinion piece makes a very valid point that it’s hypocrtical for the city to argue that fire trucks will take longer to get there when they’re closing the closest fire station. Of course, the solution to that is not to close the fire station.

Finally, the one question that’s been nagging me and that MoWest’s apologists haven’t answered: if this is all about traffic flow, why was the barrier exactly on the border? Why not cut off Ainslie and Easton streets from Westminster, like they did Broughton? Why not get VSP to cut off its access to Highway 20 through Norman St.?

| Montreal

What are you doing driving on my street?

Another day, another group of angry rich homeowners who want nobody to use their streets but them.

James Shaw Street in Beaconsfield, the Cavendish extension, and now residents of Montreal West are upset because one of their roads is being used by people who are not them. And their arguments just don’t hold water.

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