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TMR Mayor Peter Malouf said pedestrian safety was improved with a walk light added to the intersection at Jean Talon and Clyde in Town of Mount Royal.
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Pedestrian safety had been improved at the intersection of Jean-Talon St. (also known as Dresden Ave. in that spot) and Clyde Ave. a year before an elderly couple was struck while crossing the street.
An 84-year-old woman and her husband of the same age were struck crossing the intersection in Town of Mount Royal Monday morning. The woman was declared dead in a hospital, while her husband was in critical condition on Tuesday. The circumstances of the collision were not clear and were being investigated by Montreal police.
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T.M.R. Mayor Peter Malouf said Tuesday the couple was struck by a city tow truck driven by a municipal employee, who was on his way to tow another municipal vehicle.
“It’s tragic,” Malouf said. “It a horrible tragedy for the family because it was so sudden. I’m very sad for them.”
A book of condolences will be placed at Town Hall and online for residents to express their sympathies.
Malouf added that there doesn’t seem to have been speeding involved in the collision, and so the toll of the collision is also being felt by the municipal employee.
“It’s something he will have to live with for the rest of his life.”
The town has been working on improving pedestrian safety throughout its territory, and it has several intersections where town streets cross over streets belonging to the city of Montreal, including the intersection where the elderly couple was hit. It had a pedestrian traffic light added to it about a year ago, Malouf said.
He said, however, in light of the death, the town will revisit safety at that particular intersection.
“We are going to be revisiting that particular intersection to be sure, because we do have vehicles service vehicles that come out of Public Works there,” he said. “We’re always working to improve pedestrian safety and we have a committee reviewing all that right now.”
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Malouf said the town has a good working relationship with the city of Montreal, and has worked well with the city to address some issues where the two jurisdictions meet. However, he said there are numerous dangerous spots around the Town, since it borders on major highways and arterial roads like Jean-Talon and Décarie Blvd.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said the city has adopted a Vision Zero strategy to re-examine the safety of intersections in the wake of fatal accidents, but also in hopes of addressing safety issues to prevent fatal outcomes. She said it’s time for the suburban cities to adopt the same strategy.
“I think at this point, I am up to the challenge to work with everybody else, across Quebec and across the island just to shift it even more to make sure our island is safe for everybody,” Plante said.
Plante also welcomed the calls from the city’s opposition Tuesday for improved safety around schools. She said so far, many of the road safety measures taken by her administration have been in boroughs governed by her Projet Montréal team. However, she hopes opposition Ensemble Montréal will now take on the challenge to improve safety in the boroughs it controls.
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“They realize it’s important to prioritize security over fluidity,” she said. “I really invite the opposition not to just bring suggestions, but we have so many suggestions for them. They can go for different measures like cycling paths, speed bumps, enlarged sidewalks, radars. I want all the boroughs to be safe.”
Plante said there was also good news from Quebec City because the province intends to multiply the number of photo radar spots on the road, by adding 250 more to the 50 already in place. Plante said the city should get its fair share of those radars, and she asked for them to be placed strategically around schools.
Malouf was also pleased about the news of photo radars, but said they are only on provincially controlled highways and service roads except for around the city of Montreal, so he called on the province to include local roads in the suburban cities as well.
jmagder@postmedia.com
twitter.com/jasonmagder
Update: Pedestrian, 84, dies after being hit by truck in Town of Mount Royal
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