Today in the Gazette, Maureen Marovitch, who lives on Hillcrest Ave. on the Ville-Saint-Pierre side of the VSP-Montreal-West border, makes the same point through anecdotal evidence that I made previously: the so-called “traffic problem” on Broughton St. / rue des Erables simply does not exist, and there are no trucks or semis barrelling down there. In fact, it’s quite safe for pedestrians:
I walk almost daily along these streets with my two children, ages 3 1/2 and 1. I’ve watched boys play street hockey complete with nets right in the middle of the road with few, if any, cars in sight.
She also challenges the “it’s only a 29-second detour” Mtl-West talking point response to Lachine’s “think of the ambulances” talking point:
This claim was so hard to believe that my husband, a former Urgences sante paramedic and firefighter, timed the detour at 6 p.m. on a weekday. It actually takes nearly two additional minutes to do the two-kilometre detour. That doesn’t sound like much, but if your child is suffering an allergic reaction, your spouse is having a heart attack or your dinner companion is choking, it could mean the difference between life and death.
Meanwhile, my $20 challenge is so far still unmet.
All other arguments aside….as a resident on Hillcrest, and a nurse, formerly from the PICU at the Children’s Hospital, if you know where you are going it may take you 2 minutes to do this detour, but as I have experienced….if you are unsure and make an error, it has taken me an additional 10-15 minutes in the past!
All it takes is one ambulance who is stumped by an unclear detour to get lost, and that can change a family for life.
And as explained above, and I agree, there are many many kids in the area.
Is this is all really necessary? Or can Mtl West retire their sword on this one?
Again, I am home many days of the week typing away at the computer…..There is no traffic here! I walk on the street with my son and rarely need to be bothered by a passing car, let alone a truck? Speeding? Impossible, they would not fit. I venture every afternoon to pick up my husband at the train walking down broughton…..there are days where there is not one car at 6pm!
Perhaps Montreal West should re-check their numbers as well as the size of car that fits on the narrow road down devil’s hill?