Crossing the urban jungle: Crmazie Boulevard's pedestrian problem

The concrete jungle of CrmazieBoulevard isn't exactly a pedestrian's dream, with cars whizzing by on their way to Highway 40and crossing lights few and far between.

The result: 33 pedestrians and cyclists have been involved in accidents along the major arteryin the VilleraySaint-MichelParc-Extensionborough in the past two years, according to Montreal police.

All that may be about to change. A new Pedestrian and Cyclist Associationinthe borough is looking for suggestions to improve safety in the areaand will hold its first public meeting on Feb.5.

Rachel Shugartis one of its co-founders.

"If you use a bike, if you walk, if you use public transit you have a right to have your voice heard and bring forward to the cityyour ideas of what would make things better," said Shugart. "So I hope that we get a lot of citizen input."

With sections ofCrmazietopping Montreal's list of most dangerous intersections in 2016, what improvements would people who frequent or live inthe area like to see?

Put pedestrians first

OcanneBrodeurlives a few blocks fromthe busy stretchbut says she always uses CrmazieMetro's underground tunnel to get across the street. The one time she did try to cross the road,it almost ended in disaster.

"The car just stopped in front of mehe almost hit me I was scared."

SOLUTION: Minimizepedestrians' and drivers' need to compete with motorized vehicles to cross the street by creatingseparate crossing signals for both.

"They could stop at every street and put some lights for walking, and then the cars can go," saidBrodeur.

Add more clear crosswalks

Fadi El Ahmar is the owner of Sports Highway, a boutique overlooking CrmazieBoulevard near Saint-Denis Street.

On one corner of Saint-Denis, pedestrians aren't allowed to cross but many don't noticethe signs telling them so. All day, El Ahmarwatches confused pedestrians dart across heavy traffic.

"It's very crazy, you know, because there arealways too many cars, and sometimes people almost get into accidents."

SOLUTION: Add more traffic lights, which arefew and far between along the artery.

"Maybe if they would put some [more] lights, it [would be]easier to pass," said El Ahmar. "If not, you have to go really far."

Enforce rules of the road

Ibrahim Soire waits for the bus outsideCrmazieMetro as part of his commute. He sees both drivers and pedestrians taking risks by breaking the rules of the road every day, with few consequences.

"It's individual people who need to respect the rules, because looking at the structure [of Highway 40] here, I don't see what else can be done."

SOLUTION:WhileSoiredoesn't have a solution, others, like KarimZehrouni, would like to see more police patrols in the area.

Zehrouniavoids coming to the area with his young child, because rules are so often flouted.

"I seldom see any police cars around here, it's very rare.And when they do show up, everybody behaves," he said.

Montreal police say they are aware the area is a high-risk zone for accidents, and they plan on stationing more officers along that stretch of CrmazieBoulevard this year.