With crosswalk paint faded to the point of almost invisibility, officials in CDN-NDG devised a new plan to ensure the pedestrian crossing points remain visible and safe.
The borough’s administration has taken harsh criticism from opponents on the issue.
“It’s not rocket science, it’s not high-tech, it’s basic municipal service and the city hasn’t been doing it well,” said city councillor Marvin Rotrand.
Rotrand tabled a motion at a city council meeting on Monday demanding his borough fix the problem. The motion passed and included a provision calling for the borough to look at new kinds of paint that won’t fade as quickly, and hiring addition private sector contractors to speed up the work.
Currently, street painting in CDN-NDG is handled by the Rosemont-La Petite Patrie borough, which performs the job for nine boroughs in total.
“The amount of work has gone up, we have more crosswalks and bike paths, but at the same time, the number of people to do the work has gone down,” said Cote-Des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grace Mayor Sue Montgomery.
Data from the end of July showed that more than 90 per cent of crosswalks and stop sign lines had been painted but just four per cent of speed bumps had been painted.
“Even though there’s been a big spurt the last couple of weeks and they’ve sort of caught up, you don’t want to do the work in August and the line disappears in March or April because of the harsh weather over the winter,” said Rotrand.
Montgomery said she understands the frustration of residents but said the work must be done in order of priority.
“It’s a top priority for security,” she said. “The problem is, if you don’t have a stop line for a car, they don’t know where they’re supposed to stop. If you don’t have lines dividing the lanes, people are going off into the other lane.”
Montgomery said a new, more effective system should be in place by next year.
