Another Montreal municipality has wisely joined Nuns' Island in successfully existing without a single traffic light on its territory, thereby rejecting a counterproductive technology that only benefits the companies that sell the costly gizmos to the city.
Montreal West used to have a half a traffic light at Westminister and Westover, which it shared with the next-bedroom-over municipality of Cote St. Luc. But that contraption now requires $130,000 of repairs, so they've opted to simply leave it flashing, it now effectively serves as a stop sign.
There's a good chance those lights could get scrapped permanently and replaced with an actual stop sign, I am told.
Mo-West has long disproved the need for stop signs by allowing its busiest and most complicated intersection to be controlled by stop signs, rather than traffic lights, since its inception.
The corner of Westminster and Avon (aka St. James St. W).- right in front of town hall and near the large Royal West Academy high school - handles traffic from five directions, some coming up a hill, and has not had a single accident or a hit pedestrian in living memory, according to a town official I spoke to at length.
Driving through that stop sign-controlled intersection brings out everybody's innate generosity and cooperation. It's as close as motoring can come to offering a life-affirming experience, as it leaves you feeling good about humanity's ability to get along in a civil manner.
The benefits of stop signs as opposed to lights are many: firstly they don't cost millions to install and maintain, they don't suck any electricity and they're totally easy for all to understand.
Drivers approach stop signs at a slower speed than traffic lights because they are not preoccupied with trying to catch a green light. They also keep their eyes on the street rather than up at a light making them aware of other motorists, cyclists and pedestrians in their midst.
Montreal has shown a lack of imagination in creating safe and efficient roads, for example countless intersections would be made better with the installation of roundabouts as well (indeed Montreal West had seriously considered putting a roundabout at that corner but that would have required a little extra land) yet it remains a tenaciously-held myth that Montreal drivers are too stupid and reckless to understand how to navigate a roundabout.
Montreal traffic planners have instead opted to spent tens of millions installing lights at every possible opportunity, raising suspicions about their relationship with traffic light manufacturers, perhaps something that could be examined at the ongoing Charbonneau commission.
Meanwhile, this is an election year, so talk to your candidates about allowing a more humane and enlightened approach to traffic control, starting with stop signs.
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| Westminister and Avon (aka St. James) proves that traffic lights aren't needed |
There's a good chance those lights could get scrapped permanently and replaced with an actual stop sign, I am told.
Mo-West has long disproved the need for stop signs by allowing its busiest and most complicated intersection to be controlled by stop signs, rather than traffic lights, since its inception.
The corner of Westminster and Avon (aka St. James St. W).- right in front of town hall and near the large Royal West Academy high school - handles traffic from five directions, some coming up a hill, and has not had a single accident or a hit pedestrian in living memory, according to a town official I spoke to at length.
Driving through that stop sign-controlled intersection brings out everybody's innate generosity and cooperation. It's as close as motoring can come to offering a life-affirming experience, as it leaves you feeling good about humanity's ability to get along in a civil manner.The benefits of stop signs as opposed to lights are many: firstly they don't cost millions to install and maintain, they don't suck any electricity and they're totally easy for all to understand.
Drivers approach stop signs at a slower speed than traffic lights because they are not preoccupied with trying to catch a green light. They also keep their eyes on the street rather than up at a light making them aware of other motorists, cyclists and pedestrians in their midst.
Montreal has shown a lack of imagination in creating safe and efficient roads, for example countless intersections would be made better with the installation of roundabouts as well (indeed Montreal West had seriously considered putting a roundabout at that corner but that would have required a little extra land) yet it remains a tenaciously-held myth that Montreal drivers are too stupid and reckless to understand how to navigate a roundabout.
Montreal traffic planners have instead opted to spent tens of millions installing lights at every possible opportunity, raising suspicions about their relationship with traffic light manufacturers, perhaps something that could be examined at the ongoing Charbonneau commission.
Meanwhile, this is an election year, so talk to your candidates about allowing a more humane and enlightened approach to traffic control, starting with stop signs.
And it was so removed from the MoWest core that it seemed the town had no lights at all. Those are the last first-version Municipal® lights still left.
ReplyDeleteNot sure who you spoke to Kristian, but put in a good word for me - if they decide to scrap them, I'll gladly take one of them off their hands and restore it; place it in a future man-cave.
Another very busy 4-way intersection that has survived nicely with stop signs only - Queen Mary and Ellerdale in Hampstead.
ReplyDeleteI foresee a problem, however, where there would be a long line of traffic crawling through a stop sign; impatient stragglers tailgating, thus blocking the perpendicular traffic from getting through.
ReplyDeleteWe are all aware of this happening all too frequently at intersections where there ARE traffic lights, but at least the existence of an emphatic and timed red light is more of a deterrent than a simple stop sign.
Think of it this way: what do drivers respect more--a traffic light or a stop sign?
Back in the day there was a service station on the NE Corner, Esso?? where we used to inflate the tires on our bikes before sojourning down thru VSP and to the S bridge to watch Trains and Streetcars.
ReplyDeleteThe CNR then had only a single-track from Turcot West thru VSP and Consumers Glass and round via Ballantyne Jct. at Sortin, Vertu/EJ Junction to Jacques Cartier Jct. South of the Jail and, after 1944, East to PaT.
The crossing below Montreal West High had a banjo swinging arm signal that was always getting bent by trucks that ran the crossing when the arm was out on it's swing.
As children we used to 'decipher' the Roman Numerals above the door on the City Hall shown.
The Elmhurst Bull and Cow just to the East on Avon received a visit from time to time with appropriate sound effects.
Nowadays it seems so many properties are being offered by the 'A Louer/A Vendre' Real Estate Chain and have plywood windows instead of glass.
A long way from Montreal Tramways, PSBGM and such.
A friend from Monkland High @ 4400 WH died from Cancer Monday past, getting only a handful of CPP Cheques.
Hmmmm.
Thank You.
Somewhere in this blog (as yet not re-discovered due to confusing reference headings) was mention of the fact that Montreal's push-button pedestrian traffic lights are timed to go offline during specific, crucial high-volume traffic periods, this in order to prevent people on foot to slow down vehicular traffic.
ReplyDeleteThis "time-out" gimmick which, as far as I'm aware, was never publicized in the local media does occur in other cities like here:
https://au.news.yahoo.com/pedestrian-crossing-button-doesnt-actually-anything-230312664.html
Pretty sneaky! You would think this would increase "button vandalism" or at least a public outcry, but, of course, this is unlikely unless and until someone is killed at an intersection presumably controlled by such intermittent devices. :-(