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 sign 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 sign 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.