CTV News Montreal

Updated: Thu Nov. 17 2011 10:41:56 PM

ctvmontreal.ca

MONTREAL — Any driver in Montreal can spout off a litany of dangerous intersections and trouble spots on the city's roads and highway.

But which are the worst?

It turns out that neither the city nor police keep tabs on which intersections are prone to trouble.

However Dr. Patrick Morency in the city's Public Health Dept. does keep track, and he has an extensive map of injury-inducing locations.

"There's about overall 7000 people that need an ambulance because they were injured because of a car crash only on the island every year," said Dr. Morency

"To me road safety, it's a big issue."

The situation is just as bad for pedestrians.

"Over a five year period there were 5,000 injured pedestrians and more than 1,000 different crash sites," resulting in about 20 pedestrian deaths each year said Dr. Morency.

"We were quite amazed to see how widespread it is."

City Hall aware of the list

Dr. Morency's list may not be known to the public but city hall has a copy, so CTV News asked Montreal's top traffic planner, Guy Pellerin, how many of those dangerous intersections have been fixed.

Five of the 15 most dangerous have been redesigned by the city, but not one of the intersections dangerous to pedestrians has been touched.

"We do have a vast island-wide transportation plan and that includes enhancing safety," said Pellerin.

"Our first step we want to see a decrease by 40 percent within 10 years."

Critics say the city is long on goals but short on specifics.

"It's not widespread. It's still a case by case basis," said Dr. Morency.

"It's impossible to reduce the total number of road injuries by targetting only a few intersections. We should at least improve the safety of corridors."

A sign that the city may not be following up on specifics is Montreal's pedestrian charter, adopted in 2006.

The goal was to make the city more pedestrian friendly and safer, and be implemented within six months.

Five years later nobody within Montreal's public relations office knows anything about the plan, let alone if it was implemented.

"There is no plan and no following on the [Pedestrian Charter] right now," said Southwest borough councillor Veronique Fournier.

"We could really ask at this point, is it only a wish that pedestrians should be priority number one in the security of Montreal."

Borough mayors taking their own steps

The lack of specific action by the city of Montreal has convinced some borough mayors to take matters into their own hands.

Luc Ferrandez, mayor of the Plateau, has come under considerable flack for trying to limit cars going through his borough to certain busy streets.

He's also been thwarted at times by the central city.

"Every time we're asking about the pedestrian crossing and arteries like Sherbrooke or Papineau, you are told no, that will reduce the traffic," said Ferrandez.

The city says the reality is that cars are not going to go away, so the challenge is to reduce their impact.

"With our transportation plan, increased cycling and public transit, we're attacking it like a cancer, from many different angles," said Pellerin.

Ferrandez does not think the city is presenting a well-thought-out plan of attack.

"If we are waiting for the big plan, we'll wait for a long time," said Ferrandez.

Top five Pedestrian collision locations

1. Lacordaire & Henri Bourassa East (36)
2. Pie IX & Jean Talon (29)
3. Pie IX & Beaubien (26)
4. Sherbrooke & Honore Beaugrand (23)
5. Ste. Catherine & Papineau (22 )

Top Five Cyclist collision locations

1. Park & Mount Royal (43)
2. Viger & Berri (35)
3. Ontario & Berri (21)
4. De la Commune & Mill (19)
5. Wellington & Henri Duhamel (17)

Top Five Car Crash locations

1. Highway 40 at Stinson (165)
2. Dickson & Notre Dame (145)
3. Highway 15 at De Salaberry (143)
4. Cremazie & Christophe Colomb (134)
5. Highway 40 at Lacordaire (129)

Comments are now closed for this story

Domenic
Comment not approved

John
@adrie
You're confused by a crosswalk painted on the street?

Please go back to whoever taught you to drive and get your money back.

Stopping at a crosswalk has been mandatory ever since they were created.
You stop, and the guy in the lane next to you is required by law to stop as well.

adrie
Has anyone else noticed that pedestrians have started crossing streets anywhere, not even looking up to see if a car is coming, sometimes texting or strolling across a street while talking on their cell?? It's awful! Those solid yellow crosswalk lines on streets are confusing..If I see someone starting to cross, I stop, but what if the driver in the other lane doesn't stop or doesn't see the person crossing because he is out of his view? This can be very dangerous! Pedestrians seem to have this newly acquired right of crossing anywhere and anytime...and then the drivers are at fault??? Is there a new law concerning pedestrians and drivers I haven't heard about???

Lynn
I used to live in MTL, and comes for a visit yearly. My son,then about 9 yrs old almost got run over by a car who was in a hurry to make a right turn on a pedestrian green light.I have never cursed so much in my life until the day I witnessed my son almost got run over by an impatient driver. Now living in BC, drivers do stop for pedestrians whether it's an assigned pedestrian crosswalk or corner street and drivers do make a complete stop on stop signs as well.Defensive driving and patience is what some drivers need. Once a driver gets behind the steering wheel, your car is considered a weapon because it could kill. It's up to the individual driver how you want to utilize that weapon.

Bo
The city should bring in red light cameras. It would raise money and increase safety at the same time.
It would slow a lot of people down.

Dave
Taxis have to stop passing on the right - particularly when the car they are passing is going faster than the posted speed limit ( watch Industrial east of Pie IX )

Arabella
Frontenac & Ste. Catherine Est. Recipe for disaster. Both arteries feed onto the Ville Marie. Junction happens to be where Ste. C. from east direction ends abruptly.Heavy traffic, record loud collisions.
City has finally tried all sorts - photo radar, signs, sidewalk enlargement. For those of us who live here, pay increasing taxes, the screams and crunching of metal every hour get rough. Just as well the two streets are major fire engine/ambulance routes! Area may be "gentrifying", but Driver Ed still a myth.

KBC
There are irresponsible drivers, but keep in mind that the same applies to pedestrians and cyclists. Drivers turn without signalling, but pedestians just cross without looking (not counting those crossing between intersections). Cyclists are even worst as many of them, not all, switch their role between "vehicle" and "pedestrian". You can never be too careful.

ben
dangerous intersections....its easy the city will only act fast after someone gets killed and seldom if injured...same tonight ask this question when will montreal inforse the law to make motor vehicles to stop at pedestrian crossings..although there are lines in the street.not even the police stop to let us cross the street...even thou this is the law.I LIVE ON RACHEL come and film how many cars stop to let people cross.....this would be excellent reporting on CTV NEWS....

Wally from Montreal
@ Domenic FYI it's no longer called CFCF it's been changed when Bell bought the network. Now called C.T.V. News Montreal and they are presenting the report on Thursday so that many people including myself will be watching. in the meantime drivesafe..

Frustrated at Incompetence!
Many people simply do not know how to drive:
-turning without a signal light
-turning from the 2nd lane, taking up 2 lanes to make their turn.
-speeding thru a yellow light
-travelling too slow without reason, causing frustration and having people do the opposite by speeding
-regardless, speeding is without excuse
-weaving in traffic
And that's when the weather is good. It gets even worse when conditions are not ideal.
To those people that do not know how to drive, I say some remedial driving lessons and util then, take a good look into the mirror and say to yourself, 'until I know how to drive, I will stay OFF the road'

daniel
at thomas:
I did not blame anyone, I didn't even argue a point, just made an observation to show that one group is not blameless (as many car drivers make themselves out to be). I absolutely know that car drivers, cyclists, AND pedestrians all have their part of the blame and should share the responsibility. The problem, as I see it, is that car drivers have the added responsibility; they're driving thousand-pound objects that have the potential to kill quite easily (especially if you hit a pedestrian or cyclist). And by the way thomas, I am blaming cars as much as a gun can be blamed for killing someone... I blame the user! So don't blame innocent bicycles and cars, blame the drivers and cyclists!

p.s. in a five minute walk from the metro today I saw 5 cars going through red lights.

mistermister
Less cars.

Domenic
Why is CFCF holding back this information? Why Thursday? It's been a week that they announced it on television. The public most know right away.

thomas
at Daniel:
Please I rarely see bikes following the law and they are the ones to pay the most attention cause they are at risk for serious injuries. This year alone I had two bikes smash into my car while driving downtown Montreal. The first one was going down a one way street and the other not did not stop at a stop sign. So please before talking and blaming cars.

mike
@ Nadia - Yes. Not all bike paths in Montreal are dedicated. Do you truyly believe that this one picture represents all lanes?

I'm not talking about that particular intersection.

daniel
at Aaron:
do you know how many cars I see going through red lights?... I counted three today at Decarie and Queen-Mary and I was at the intersection for about a minute.

Nadia
Mike - THIS is a dedicated bike lane. Notice the concrete separation? This is at an intersection where cars must cross over the bike lane,, therefore, no, pylons won't work.

Aaron
You know how many bikers I see going on red lights!! I saw about 6 people just oblivious to their surroundings go on red lights and ingnore trafic signs. People think they are superman nothing will happen until they hit the windshelid of a car, truck, bus..and than realize it's to late!!

the city needs to redesign the biks path's. They put them right near parked cars, so you have to be carefull of someone not opening their door, and cars behinds you..

miek
@Norm_D. You missed the point.

Clearly the image is a bike path. Problem is that it's a poor one. Notice how most of them are in the same lane as cars. It is a poor idea and poor design. Rather than paint, they should shrink the number and make dedicated ones (even with the plastic pilons) to protect cyclists. A painted sign on the road in the winter is not that visible. If you don't drive that road often, you simply don't know its a bike path.

Norm_D
To Mike. Did you even check the picture at the bottom of the report? That is a dedicated lane.

No dangerous intersections in other cities someone else wrote? As an example, Toronto, unfortunately, is worse than us. But I do see infractions on both sides, but to me the worst offenders are the police. For what? Not doing their jobs and ticketing both adult cyclists and motorists for moving infractions. Plus all cyclists of driving age should collect the same demerit points as drivers. Just my two cents.

charlie
Avenue de Dieppe and Jean-Talon West is a dangerous intersection going eastwards. I called city, they said 2 complaints already made, but nothing would be done. I don't want to wait until someone gets injured or dies before they fix the botch painting job. Without warning, far left lane disappears, forcing drivers to swerve into middle lane...I have had too many close calls.

irma1957
Anyone over the age of 25 learned from kindergarten that you cross on green and wait on red. Now we have green lights with hand signals that say not to cross, red lights with signals that tell pedestrians to cross, not to mention a countdown of seconds before you are in a danger zone. Anyone over 30 is so confused when at an intersection, that it has become dangerous.I witnessed a cop accosting a senior citizen in St. Leonard by yelling at the top of her lungs that he shouldn't be crossing, yadda, yadda, yadda. The poor elderly person was so confused and didn't have clue as to what the cop was berating him for. She threatened that he'd get a jay-walking ticket for crossing on a green light with a hand signal that said not to cross. Is this just another scam by city gov't to pad the city coffers by giving tickets out to pedestrians? Why is red and green no longer the norm? Seems to me that it used to work well. Now you don't know what to do at an intersection thanks to the powers that be and who are trying to justify their jobs. If it ain't broke, don't touch it, already.

eastmtler
Union and Rene Levesque should be on the list - there is a pedestrian light, but it is WAY TOO SHORT to allow anyone to make it across the street before getting run over by traffic. Next intersection? not much better. Rene-L and University is just as bad, no dedicated pedestrian crossing with sufficient time to cross.

That said, one must also consider that the straight arrow doesn't mean a thing. Driving, I am often honked at and waived fists at because I actually wait for the arrow to be replaced by the full green light and let pedestrians finish crossing.

rmsbl4
Is there a link to the list, or would it suffice to say pick any intersection as they are probably all dangerous?

Joyce Winterbottom
Mont-Royal and de l'Esplanade must be on the list.

NOYB
Its unbelievable how many bad inter-sections Montreal has. And its only in this city. On of the worst ones is on the corner of Jarry Est & Christophe Colombe where you need to really check that no bikers are going straight while you need to turn.

You want to know what is bad too besides BAD INTERSECTIONS...Well when you need to go straight. You make a stop. You look left. You look right...However on your on left, you can't see a darn thing because either a truck,a van or a minivan is parked at the corner. You pull up alittle because you can't see a thing, and little do you know it, you end up 1/2 out of the intersection where of course anyone can be coming. So they should fix that too. I've asked so many times that large vehicles should NOT be parked at the corners. Even if kids are crossing the street. All of a sudden you see them pop out from behind a large vehcile. But this city...no one cares unless you go to the city and ask for a permit of some sort, and then you even need to pay for it. when they see $$ they take care of you!

mike
Bike lanes should be dedicated, not these painted on signs that half the time is covered in leaves and snow.

The resposibility for safety lies with both drivers and bikers. I do both and i've seen bad violations on both sides. Bikes crossing in a red, drivers never checking thier blind spots.