'The pedestrian needs to be visible': students, residents call for safer roads in Montreal West

Residents of Montreal West were told Monday night that the town is working to improve safety in the area around Royal West Academy and Westminster Avenue but it is waiting on the Montreal police service (SPVM) and other levels of government to act.

Two students have been struck by cars recently at a dangerous intersection on Westminster and Ainslie Road near the school. Charlie Shein, 14, was walking to the high school earlier this month when a car collided with his side, sending him flying and landing on his lower back.

Some have called for a school crossing guard to be put there but the town explained that a guard needs approval from the SPVM.

Some residents complained that the intersection has been a danger for 20 years and only become more so with increases in trains and cars. They also agreed that many frustrated drivers get impatient because they get stuck in closed lanes due to construction and cannot see well.

One student whose foot was recently run over attended the meeting.

"The pedestrian needs to be visible. The pedestrian needs to be noticed. It cannot be that a car comes and — if I was one step ahead I could have been taken out and it could have been much, much worse," Khayyam Cesar-Mohammed told CTV News.

"They need to work together to find a solution that works for everybody."

His mother, who also attended the meeting, agreed that changes are needed.

"As a resident of Côte Saint-Luc and previously Montreal West we'd love to see Cavendish opened up so that it would alleviate some of this traffic. I mean, the small street — Westminster — is being used as a thoroughfare. It's ridiculous," said Sophie Cesar.

Montreal West city councillor Lauren Small Pennefather said the town is working with partners, including the police, the school, the English Montreal School Board, and local MNA Desirée McGraw.

"It's a complex situation. Westminster has a number of pinch points along the entire boundary of the town. We're a small town that is very congested [with] a lot of densification," Small Pennefather said.

"You know, we don't have the most patient drivers. We have commuter trains that come through the town, and as such, people are impatient. Sometimes, after being behind a barrier for six or seven trains, you just want to get to where you want to go. Increasing some of the traffic measures we have in place. It could be lighting, it could be stop signs that have lights around them, it could be anything from reconfiguration, from prohibiting southbound turns off of Sherbrooke onto Westminster."

She added the town has also commissioned a traffic study to find solutions.

Town officials say they hope to have solutions in place by the end of the year or early 2025. They also urged residents to write to their local MNAs and MPs to speed up action.