City lauds success of Mount Royal pilot project
The pilot project eliminating through traffic on Mount Royal was a success, Mayor Valérie Plante’s administration claims in a preliminary report.
But the nine-page report, presented to the city ’s executive committee Wednesday, concedes that preventing vehicles from using Camillien-Houde Way and Remembrance Rd. as a crosstown artery did not solve the dangers inherent in having drivers, cyclists and pedestrians share the road.
The “pilot project did not make it possible to solve all the problems of cohabitation between drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
“Conflictual situations between the different users and dangerous behaviour by drivers and cyclists were observed,” it said.
But Luc Ferrandez, the executive committee member responsible for large parks, hailed the fact there were no accidents during the five-month pilot project, which started June 2.
“There were zero accidents during the summer, while there was a phenomenal increase in the number of cyclists,” said Ferrandez, noting there had been 139 accidents on the route across the mountain over the previous decade.
“We are extremely satisfied, even joyful. In fact, it was more than we hoped for,” he told reporters after city officials presented the report to the city’s executive committee.
“When you were on the mountain this summer, you felt the difference. You felt the peace, you felt the tranquility, you felt the contact with nature,” said Ferrandez, who is also mayor of the Plateau Mont Royal borough.
The death of 18-year-old cyclist Clément Ouimet on Camillien Houde Way a year ago sparked demands to make the road safer. When he announced the pilot project in February, Ferrandez said the tragedy made it imperative for the city to act.
Eliminating through traffic reduced daily traffic on CamillienHoude Way from 10,000 to 3,700 vehicles on weekdays and from 7,700 to 4,600 on weekends, the report says.
On Remembrance Rd., the drop was more dramatic, going from 10,800 to 2,700 on weekdays and from 7,300 to 3,200 on weekends.
Police issued 600 to 700 traffic tickets daily for crossing illegally in June, when the pilot project started. The number dropped to 300 to 400 daily by September, the report said. Most were trying to reach a parking lot on the other side or attempting to drive to one of the cemeteries, it said.
Despite restrictions in car access, it was a banner year for visitors to Mount Royal, said Ferrandez, who was unable back up the assertion with any statistics.
Opposition leader Lionel Perez cast doubt on the statement, saying the restriction on cars discouraged many Montrealers from going to Mount Royal.
“What we’ve heard is that people were much more reticent to visit the mountain because they knew that there was less parking. Many people actually went on Sundays and they couldn’t find parking and weren’t able to go to the other side and they simply left,” Perez said.
The Ensemble Montréal leader noted that the report confirms drivers continued to make dangerous U-turns, which shows the pilot project did not solve the safety issue.
“Even though there was a reduction in traffic, nevertheless concerns about safety and conflicts between drivers and cyclists are still there,” Perez said.
The report said despite concerns that closing Camillien-Houde and Remembrance to through traffic would increase pressure on other arteries around the mountain, that did not happen.
Bus service became more punctual and long waits for the bus were eliminated during the project, it added.
The report said park users enjoyed temporary amenities set up during the pilot project like the “Café suspendu,” a temporary outdoor café in the Camillien-Houde lookout that attracted 6,000 visitors a day. However, some drivers used dangerous manoeuvres like U-turns or parked illegally on the shoulder to get to the “Belvedère soleil,” a temporary lookout beside the road.
Another safety concern raised by the report was that cyclists riding downhill on the road go an average of 10 kilometres an hour faster than cars and buses.
About 1,500 cyclists, runners and walkers took part in six Cyclovias, bike rides held over the summer.
The controversial road closure sparked a 36,000-name petition opposing it, and an 8,292-name one in favour.
On Monday, Les amis de la montagne, a non-profit organization promoting Mount Royal, said it took a lot more planning for people to visit the mountain, especially if you wanted to visit more than one destination, such as Beaver Lake and the two cemeteries.
It also said that while athletes, like competitive cyclists who bike up the steep incline on CamillienHoude, had no trouble accessing the 2.4-square-kilometre park, it was more of a challenge for groups that included elders or families with young children.
The Plante administration will present its report to Montreal’s consultation bureau on Nov. 8.
Then on Nov. 28, the Office de consultation publique de Montréal will hear from a wide range of groups and individuals with opinions on whether to continue the ban on car traffic.