The new anti-slush intersections in Montreal: first successful test

In Montreal, journalist Louis-Philippe Messier travels mostly on the run, his desk in his backpack, on the lookout for fascinating subjects and people. He speaks to everyone and is interested in all walks of life in this urban chronicle.

On Avenue des Pins, recently redeveloped, the sidewalks are continuous and higher than the roadway so the eternal lakes of slush which force pedestrians to acrobatics at intersections were not formed during the first sudden melt of snow in Montreal .

First successful test, therefore, for these new anti-slush intersections, we were able to observe The Journal on site Wednesday.

At the corner of Henri-Julien and avenue des Pins on Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, pedestrians do not have to play water jump, while tow trucks sound their sirens during snow removal .

In the cold rain, a woman walking cautiously with a cane stops to feel the street in front of the sidewalk with her foot.

“I only see partially in one eye and I check the terrain immediately in front of me before crossing,” explains Patricia Landry, a resident of the neighborhood.

Many bypass the “sloche” ponds so common around street corners, but M^me Landry does not have this luxury, as he cannot see the obstacle clearly.

Pedestrian highway

“I can see a little in front of me, and everywhere else it’s gray… Even if there’s a big hole of water, I pass through it because I can’t see where it starts and where it ends” , she confides.

The sidewalk on Avenue des Pins, which in winter becomes a sort of pedestrian highway, will be the preferred route for M^me Landry during bad weather.

As far as we look west from rue Saint-Denis, the sidewalk on des Pins seems clear.

“I go out to the Parc cinema in the evening and I will use Pins because it seems safer to me than the neighboring streets,” announces Lorraine Hébert.

“I’m 70 years old and I walk a lot. This redevelopment of the street really suits me, especially in winter,” adds the Plateau-Mont-Royal resident.

Bémols

While the east-west sidewalk actually seems completely slush-free, the north-south passage is not free of puddles, since gutters leading to the manholes have been built there.

“There was a small lake to go around yesterday for those crossing,” confirms a regular on the avenue who prefers to keep his name quiet.

“Painting white lines tends to become slippery when it freezes,” he also notes.

One thing is certain: continuous sidewalks a little higher than the roadway, by the grace of gravity, seem to eliminate the small Ontario lakes that form around normal street corners.

It doesn’t take Newton’s mind to figure that out.