Lights planned to handle college traffic

"If there's going to be a significant increase in the use of that area for people entering Marianopolis College … it has to be changed and the lights have to be synchronized and we have to have a new or better entrance area devised in that spot," said Councillor Tom Thompson, who represents District 2.

The City wants to make sure an even flow of traffic goes through the intersection and then eastward onto Westmount Avenue. "It’s a school, so we want to make sure that it's safe," said Mayor Karin Marks, adding that a final decision hasn't been made as to whether the lights will be located at that intersection or just south at Westmount Avenue and Claremont.

"You want to make sure that you don't have people whipping around the corner there, which they sometimes do because you can't really see as you come around that corner," said Marks. "I don't think there'll be a huge increase in traffic."

While acknowledging that this will be the first time it's been deemed necessary to set up traffic lights at that corner, Thompson also maintained this is not in anticipation of more traffic. The Congregation of Notre Dame's former Mother House was at one time the home of another busy learning institution, Collège Marguerite Bourgoys. Thompson said traffic had been increasing in recent years along that route.

"Even if the traffic was the same, there'd be some type of congestion, if not some safety implications, if people were just turning left and going in and then trying to come out again," he said. "And so to give some control to the entrance to the college and the exit from the college in that spot for delivery and dropoff, we feel it has to be controlled with synchronized traffic lights."

While pointing out that local residents have made him aware of their concerns about parking spaces on nearby streets being taken up by students, Thompson said the City will probably be making adjustments to parking regulations.

"In discussions with the board of Marianopolis College, they have done their research to find out where do their students come from." he said. "They have identified ways in which those students can get access to the college without coming by car because there's only so much parking."