Montreal city councillor pushing for reduced speed limit on Van Horne Avenue

A Montreal city councillor wants drivers to slow down on Van Horne Avenue, a busy roadway that runs through the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood, among others.

Opposition councillor Sonny Moroz says residents have asked him to make the area safer for pedestrians. He says the first step is reducing the speed limit to 40 km/h.

"The main reason we're trying to tackle this is the incoherence of Van Horne," Moroz told CTV News. "From Côte Saint-Luc to Outremont, the speed limit can change multiple times, from 40 to 50 to 20, and those changes lead to accelerations, and those accelerations can be deadly to pedestrians and cyclists."

Cintha Estrada spends a lot of time in the busy intersection of Van Horne Avenue and Côte-des-Neiges Road. She uses a cane to get around, and says it's not always easy maneuvering through fast-moving traffic.

"It's so dangerous. I'm scared, you know?" she said. "I think it's a good idea, especially for the seniors. Sometimes when I cross the street, the colour [is] green, it says go, but I'm still in the middle."

Moroz notes that this particular intersection attracts a lot of foot traffic.

"We have a mosque, we have a workout centre, we have tons of pharmacies and community centres in the area. This area is highly trafficked by pedestrians and cyclists," he said.

Pedestrian safety advocate Jason Savard says reducing the speed limit is a good first step.

"Every 10 kilometres you reduce the speed, you reduce the likelihood of severe or deadly damage to pedestrians or cyclists," said Savard, who is with the NDG Cyclist and Pedestrian Association.

He says other measures, like radar, barriers and bike paths, would help slow traffic even more.

"Just the speed indication is not enough. It's not obeyed generally by drivers who are already driving above the speed limit."

Moroz will table his motion to reduce the speed limit on Wednesday, and hopes it's the first of many measures to come.