Some 10,000 people have offered their opinions on the Camillien-Houde pilot project, and initial indications show the controversial road closure wasn’t popular.
The Plante administration’s plan to close the road came after 18-year-old cyclist Clement Ouimet was killed in October 2017 when a driver made an illegal U-turn.
“One thing we need to keep in mind is that this all started two years ago because somebody died,” said Mayor Valerie Plante.
Montreal’s public consultation office is now analyzing the data from the pilot project.
Plante has always said she would follow any recommendations.
“If they say to keep transit open, of course, we'll have to listen to it, but there's going to be the security issue as well. Because what we know is the more cars, there's more possibility for U-turns,” she said.
The opposition at city hall called it backtracking.
“The overwhelming majority doesn't want it to be closed,” said Ensemble Montreal leader Lionel Perez. “What they do want is adjustments. And those adjustments are to reduce the cars on Camillien-Houde.”
The debate over the Camillion-Houde closure has been the most popular public consultation since the public consultation office opened.
While no concrete numbers were given, an initial report finds it was far from popular among the 10,000 who spoke out.
“People on site were quite positive and online it was mostly negative, so I don't want to minimize any comments, but I'm just going to wait for the recommendations and move from there,” said Plante.
Perez said this is going to be a test for the mayor.
“Is she going to respect and follow the recommendations as she said she would in the campaign?” he said.
The final reports, with recommendations and analysis, is due in February.
