Dejà vu? Residents protest against new barricade by Montreal West

Residents living in three Lachine streets - Hillcrest, Mount Vernon and Rosewood – reunited on June 9 to protest the erection of a cement barrier located in the corner of Broughton and Hillcrest streets. With this new barricade, only emergency vehicles can pass through, leaving just one exit for the three aforementioned streets. The situation echoes a similar one which residents in these three streets are familiar with. They have protested at least three times in the last six years against these barricades.

According to Pat Schmidt who spoke on behalf of the residents affected by this measure, “the installation of this new barricade is in direct conflict with the appeal filed by the City of Montreal, Lachine Borough. Last January, Lachine filed an interlocutory injunction which was dismissed by the Court. This meant that the City of Montreal West obtained the right to do whatever they wished for their streets. Worried that Montreal West will be able to use its right to build another barricade, Lachine Borough filed its right to appeal.”

In a hearing in the Court of Appeal, the judge ordered Montreal West to maintain the status quo and to not obstruct its streets in any way.

Residents affected by this measure mentioned a “strange feeling of déjà vu”, peppered with anger and frustration. “That’s not really a problem”, said David Finch, a resident of Hillcrest Street. “There were three traffic studies done by independent consultants and by the police in this area. All those studies showed that there was neither excessive traffic nor over-speeding in these streets. In fact, these studies revealed that traffic was at a minimum – only 112 cars pass each day at an average speed of 30 km an hour. This road barrier is therefore unjustified.”

According to Hillcrest Street resident Judy Tennant, “the situation has turned abusive; we would have preferred to stay at home on June 9 to make supper and help our kids with their homework instead of being forced, once again, to protest in the corner of the street.”