The City of Montreal has announced further measures to ensure pedestrian safety. With the initiative, the city aims to reduce the number of pedestrian deaths and protect its most vulnerable residents. Visit MTLBlog for more headlines. The City of Montreal and the SPVM are taking pedestrian and road safety very seriously with the newly implemented Vision Zero Montreal campaign. Aimed at reducing the number of injuries and deaths caused by road traffic, the new initiative has a 20 point plan to keep the most vulnerable citizens safe. It couldn't come at a better time. As of last Friday, there have been 19 deaths from traffic-related incidents this year alone. The death toll for 2019 has already surpassed that for all of 2018 — which reached a six-year high of 18. The city of Montreal announced today, as part of its action plan, that it will invest $58.5 million to include more pedestrian lights and improved cross times for the 2020-2022 budget. 1,985 intersections will be upgraded to pedestrian lights with digital countdowns and cross times will be based on the traffic of the intersection. Intersections located in select areas like CLSCs, hospitals, and schools will also have longer cross times. The Zero Montreal campaign is committed to four main actions: Implement a "Program to improve safety in school zones." Improve existing bike paths and develop the réseau express vélo. Add more digital-timer pedestrian traffic lights. Improve lighting for walkways under bridges and overpasses. It's great to see the plan finally take shape. On Friday morning, November 15 an 89-year-old man was struck by a car at the intersection of Décarie and boulevard de Maisonneuve, becoming the 19th pedestrian fatality of the year. La @MTL_Ville agit sur tous les fronts pour la sécurité des usagers de la route. Aujourd’hui, nous annonçons 1️⃣ que toutes les intersections de Montréal munies de feux de circulation seront désormais dotées de feux piétons 🚦(1/3) #VisionZéro #polmtl pic.twitter.com/BHqBRAhRBC— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) November 18, 2019 Translation: The @MTL_Ville acts on all fronts for the safety of road users. Today, we announce that all Montreal intersections with traffic lights will now have pedestrian lights 🚦(1/3) #VisionZero #polmtl Last Wednesday an 80-year old woman was the 18th fatality when she was hit by a truck at the intersection of rues Jean-Talon and Buies. Seniors tend to be the most vulnerable and Vision Zero is taking that into account. We are only halfway through November and the death toll is dramatically rising. READ MORE: All The Improvements & Advances Coming To The STM Network In 2020 There are some pretty alarming facts regarding the safety (and lack thereof) on our Montreal streets: Every 41 hours, a person is killed or seriously injured on Montreal's streets. Half of the pedestrians killed are at least 65 years old. More than 75% of drivers killed are young men aged 20 to 24 years. More than 3 out of every four 4 collisions occur at intersections. De plus, 2️⃣ tous les feux piétons ajoutés seront dotés d’un décompte numérique et 3️⃣ nous allons augmenter les délais des feux piétons de 4 à 6 sec. 4️⃣ et accorder + de temps aux piétons dans les secteurs où se trouvent des hôpitaux, des CLSC, des CPE et des écoles. (2/3) #polmtl— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) November 18, 2019 Translation: Moreover, 1: all pedestrian traffic lights added will be digitally counted and 2: we will increase the pedestrian time limit from 4 to 6 sec. 3: and give more time to pedestrians in areas where there are hospitals, CLSCs, CPEs, and schools. The Vision Zero campaign doesn't just rely on drivers to be more aware of their surroundings but looks at road safety in its entirety, like those who design and maintain the streets. A Vision Zero governing committee is being established. This team, including traffic and road safety engineers, will investigate on-site when a serious traffic accident occurs to better understand the causes and the possible solutions La protection des usagers les + vulnérables doit être une obsession. C’est pourquoi nous allons augmenter de 43% les sommes allouées aux feux piétons, en plus de multiplier les mesures d’aménagements pour les piétons - ce que nous sommes toutes et tous à la base. (3/3) #polmtl— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) November 18, 2019 Translation: The protection of the most vulnerable users must be an obsession. That is why we will increase the amount allocated to pedestrian traffic lights by 43%, in addition to increasing the number of measures to accommodate pedestrians - which is what we are all about. (3/3) #polmtl Hopefully, these new initiatives will help to lower any road incidents for the coming year. For more information about Vision Zero's action plans and what you can do to help, visit the website here.
