Thousands of Montreal motorists have been caught driving too fast on streets where the speed limit has been lowered to 30 km/h in recent years.
Elected officials from Valérie Plante’s team have reduced the speed limit on several sections of the metropolis. The objective was to better protect pedestrians, but these changes also increased the number of infractions in these areas.
“If I drive at 30, I get honked at or hit in the ass all the time,” says Mme Éthier, crossroads near Maisonneuve Park, in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie.
The Montrealer admits to having already been stopped herself for speeding, on Rosemont Boulevard near the park, two years ago.
For almost 8 years, Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie has been one of the districts which has increased the number of zones limited to 30 km/h, particularly on arteries bordering parks or schools.
Speeding in a 30 km/h zone
2021-2023
| borough | findings |
|---|---|
| Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie | 21,782 |
| Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve | 7,242 |
| The room | 6,662 |
| Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension | 3,578 |
| Rest of the island of Montreal | 23,891 |
The police often corner heavy-footed drivers there. Between 2021 and 2023, they issued 21,782 tickets for excessive speed in a 30 km/h zone in Rosemont, or a third of all those distributed on the island of Montreal.
A large part of these offenses occurred on large arteries, such as Saint-Joseph, Viau or Rosemont.
“Here before it was 30, it was going at 70. We too, honestly, we were driving fast,” says Philippe Payant, who has lived for more than 15 years, opposite Maisonneuve Park.
“It’s good for the neighborhood,” he says. There is good noise attenuation. It’s easier to cross.”
Mr. Payant says that the police come “a day or two every month” to carry out a radar operation near his home.
It takes more than signs
According to Polytechnique Montréal professor Nicolas Saunier, only changing the signs, without reducing the width of the lanes, has little impact on the habits of motorists.
“There are people who will try to respect, but if we are the only ones driving 10 km/h slower than everyone else, we feel bad and it can even become dangerous,” he says.
This road safety expert recalls that motorists tend to “follow the traffic”.
The mayor of Rosemont, François Limoges, judges for his part that the reduction in speed has had “overall an impact” on safety.
“It was important to lower the limits. Are there still dangerous behaviors? Yes, and many citizens are asking us to do more,” says the elected official.
He therefore does not rule out narrowing the lanes of certain arteries to further force motorists to slow down.
But this will be done when there is already another project planned.
“We have massively secured the layout of local streets. On the arteries, it is done at the pace of the work, because we do not want to work twice,” he explains.
