MONTREAL - Any driver in Montreal can spout off a litany of dangerous intersections and trouble spots on the city's roads and highway.
But which are the worst?
It turns out that neither the city nor police keep tabs on which intersections are prone to trouble.
However Dr. Patrick Morency in the city's Public Health Dept. does keep track, and he has an extensive map of injury-inducing locations.
"There's about overall 7000 people that need an ambulance because they were injured because of a car crash only on the island every year," said Dr. Morency
"To me road safety, it's a big issue."
The situation is just as bad for pedestrians.
"Over a five year period there were 5,000 injured pedestrians and more than 1,000 different crash sites," resulting in about 20 pedestrian deaths each year said Dr. Morency.
"We were quite amazed to see how widespread it is."
City Hall aware of the list
Dr. Morency's list may not be known to the public but city hall has a copy, so CTV News asked Montreal's top traffic planner, Guy Pellerin, how many of those dangerous intersections have been fixed.
Five of the 15 most dangerous have been redesigned by the city, but not one of the intersections dangerous to pedestrians has been touched.
"We do have a vast island-wide transportation plan and that includes enhancing safety," said Pellerin.
"Our first step we want to see a decrease by 40 percent within 10 years."
Critics say the city is long on goals but short on specifics.
"It's not widespread. It's still a case by case basis," said Dr. Morency.
"It's impossible to reduce the total number of road injuries by targetting only a few intersections. We should at least improve the safety of corridors."
A sign that the city may not be following up on specifics is Montreal's pedestrian charter, adopted in 2006.
The goal was to make the city more pedestrian friendly and safer, and be implemented within six months.
Five years later nobody within Montreal's public relations office knows anything about the plan, let alone if it was implemented.
"There is no plan and no following on the [Pedestrian Charter] right now," said Southwest borough councillor Veronique Fournier.
"We could really ask at this point, is it only a wish that pedestrians should be priority number one in the security of Montreal."
Borough mayors taking their own steps
The lack of specific action by the city of Montreal has convinced some borough mayors to take matters into their own hands.
Luc Ferrandez, mayor of the Plateau, has come under considerable flack for trying to limit cars going through his borough to certain busy streets.
He's also been thwarted at times by the central city.
"Every time we're asking about the pedestrian crossing and arteries like Sherbrooke or Papineau, you are told no, that will reduce the traffic," said Ferrandez.
The city says the reality is that cars are not going to go away, so the challenge is to reduce their impact.
"With our transportation plan, increased cycling and public transit, we're attacking it like a cancer, from many different angles," said Pellerin.
Ferrandez does not think the city is presenting a well-thought-out plan of attack.
"If we are waiting for the big plan, we'll wait for a long time," said Ferrandez.
Top five Pedestrian collision locations
- Lacordaire & Henri Bourassa East (36)
- Pie IX & Jean Talon (29)
- Pie IX & Beaubien (26)
- Sherbrooke & Honore Beaugrand (23)
- Ste. Catherine & Papineau (22 )
Top Five Cyclist collision locations
- Park & Mount Royal (43)
- Viger & Berri (35)
- Ontario & Berri (21)
- De la Commune & Mill (19)
- Wellington & Henri Duhamel (17)
Top Five Car Crash locations
- Highway 40 at Stinson (165)
- Dickson & Notre Dame (145)
- Highway 15 at De Salaberry (143)
- Cremazie & Christophe Colomb (134)
- Highway 40 at Lacordaire (129)
