The Côte Saint-Luc Traffic Committee met recently, at which time I made the case for something to be done to increase safety on Marc Chagall Avenue
With the addition of two Equinoxe high rises, and if you take into account Le Rothchild I, which borders on the street, there are close to 1,000 residents spread across six buildings and one town house complex. Add to that JPPS Elementary/Bialik High School, Beth Chabad at Kildare Road and the snow dump, then we are talking about a lot of traffic.
Following two recent accidents at the curve on Marc Chagall, the committee discussed what can be done. Engineering presented traffic counts taken from the previous week.
They showed low volume and low speeds at the curve. Simply looking at the data would not suggest a problem in the area. The local Police Station 9 commander agreed that there is likely no speeding on the curve and that they would not be able to issue tickets based on the speeds of the tests. The committee did agree that these values would be amplified if it were trucks and not cars.
Personally I do not feel that these speed tests tell the true story. There have been many spring, summer and fall nights where have seen cars whizzing by well above the speed limit.
So our plans now call for a significant reduction in speed allowed: 30km/hr along the entire Marc Chagall stretch. For residents who have been asking for such a measure you need to understand that once signs are installed the police will be monitoring it and tickets issued.
Keep in mind that the main entrance for Isadore Goldberg Park is now on Marc Chagall, qualifying certain portion of the street as a park area for the purposes of speed. Then, of course, as we approach JPPS/Bialik we enter a school zone.
I walk or drive down Marc Chagall almost every day. When I am in my vehicle I do so very slowly, cognizant of the traffic and – notably during COVID- the fact that there has been more pedestrian activity.
The addition of more speed bumps was not accepted as the noise caused by trucks would be very disruptive to the surrounding buildings.
Before the signs are installed and we complete the necessary steps to make this a reality, I welcome comments from constituents at mcohen@cotesaintluc.org.
Mike, I used to walk my dog there. A disrespectful bunch of drivers, mostly SUVs, all ages. Then the city put in speed bumps. The vehicles would swerve around the bumps. I’m neither in your area anymore, nor is Chewy, he crossed the rainbow bridge Aug 2020. No visibility of any surveillance. Every effort was a waste of time and money.