Thousands of parking spots could disappear from Montreal streets if the city imitates a Verdun borough initiative enforcing a ban on parking within five metres of an intersection in order to make life safer for pedestrians.
The Verdun ban led to the elimination of 800 spots in that borough and not all residents of that area are happy with the loss of parking options.
“There’s not that many places to park.There are more cars than before so no, it's ridiculous,” Verdun resident Karen MacLeod told CTV Montreal Thursday.
The borough mayor admits that laying down the yellow paint at 1,300 intersections in 2011 did not thrill all residents.
“We lost places for parking,” said Verdun Mayor Jean-Francois Parenteau, who believes that the sacrifice was worth. “If we have a choice between a parking place and a children's life, I prefer a children's life. We know it's a good choice because we have 50 percent less accidents in Verdun.”
The City of Montreal says that it’s still studying whether to follow Verdun's lead and also enforce the same five metre rule.
“There's some intersections we have to intervene fast, there's some others we can at least study,” said Aref Salem Executive Committee member in charge of Transportation.
Salem suggests that the ban will likely be enforced in places where parking is already ample.
The city will make its policy officially known in the coming weeks.
