“Toupin Boulevard is already a highway. The Cavendish extension is going to be a disaster for life in this neighbourhood,” said Luc Marion, a representative of the Toupin Sector Residents Association (TSRA). Having grown up in the area, Marion, like many other citizens, is deeply attached to his neighbourhood and is concerned about what will happen.
The residents are worried motorists will use Toupin, which is located along the future connection to Cavendish, to access Highway 13 and 15. With Toupin Boulevard running through St. Laurent and reaching into Bordeaux-Cartierville on Gouin Boulevard, residents fear the Cavendish extension will lead to even more traffic tie-ups than there are now.
Citizens soon formed a protest-movement, beginning with a 800-signature petition. The group then compiled various statistics on the current traffic situation, and forecasted what effects opening up Cavendish Boulevard onto Toupin will have. With the help of town-planning specialists, they came up with a number of propositions, ranging from the installation of speed bumps to moving the projected extension so that Cavendish would not directly open onto Toupin.
Members of the TSRA presented their demands to the municipalities of Ahuntsic-Cartierville and St. Laurent, as well as the City of Montreal, who all said they will analyze the group’s propositions and that they are listening to their concerns. However, the Cavendish extension project seems to already be a done deal.
“Three requests were made to Montreal’s executive committee to modify the project, and they were refused. Like they say in baseball: three strikes, you’re out!” said St. Laurent Mayor Alan DeSousa, who is also responsible for the City of Montreal’s economic development. He added that the land for the prospective route of the extension already belongs to the City. As far as what measures will be taken to reduce traffic, nothing has been decided yet, DeSousa said, but consultations should be held shortly.
Questioned on the subject during the Sept. 17 council meeting, Mayor Gérald Tremblay said his administration is determined to find a compromise that will satisfy the citizens. However, leader of the official opposition, Noushig Eloyan, criticized the secretive nature of the administration’s attitude. “No one was consulted, and there’s already machinery on the site,” she said, adding that financing for the aqueducts along the project’s trajectory have already been approved.
On Sept. 12, the TSRA met with a communication officer from Ahuntsic-Cartierville and Réjean Durocher, director of public works and urban planning for the borough. “The mayor received a report of the meeting and assures she is sympathetic to their concerns,” said the borough’s spokesperson, Marie-Élaine Ladouceur.
As the traffic plan for Ahuntsic-Cartierville had not yet been finalized, the TSRA arrives just in time to have their concerns and proposals included. “Certain measures will be taken, starting at Jean-Bourdon Avenue, to decrease traffic on Toupin. It’s still too early to say exactly what will be done. It may be traffic lights, signs prohibiting drivers from continuing to go straight…We’ll know more in a few weeks, or a few months,” Ladouceur said.
The TSRA, however, hopes the measures taken will be more than just street sign modifications. “Signage and traffic signals can change at any time. It’s no guarantee,” said Luc Marion. “We look at the suburbs developing, and we know how important the north-south axis will become. We want to protect ourselves, not only for 10 years, but for 20 years.”
(Translated by Elyse Amend)
