Roxboro seeks parking suggestions

BY ELYSE AMEND

elyse.amend@transcontinental.ca

Parking problems near the Roxboro-Pierrefonds train station on the Montreal/Deux-Montagnes line have prompted Pierrefonds/Roxboro to hire CIMA+, a multidisciplinary consulting firm, to undertake a traffic and parking study in the borough.

This spring, CIMA+ specialists will evaluate the traffic patterns and road conditions in the area contained by General Brock, Centre Commercial, Gouin Boulevard, and Eighth Avenue, to determine what the borough should do to alleviate the issue.

“It’s been a problem for years,” said Pierrefonds/Roxboro communications director Johanne Palladini.

A number of citizens have complained about the parking situation at monthly council meetings and in letters to the borough, maintaining a lack of parking at the train station causes commuters to seek parking on the narrow streets of Roxboro, which obstructs traffic and frustrates residents of the area.

At the end of February, someone who the borough referred to as a “bad joker” stuck notices on the windshields of cars parked on side streets, telling them to park on General Brock or Cartier Streets, where they could “safely” leave their cars all day, although parking on those streets is limited to four hours. The notices also told people to call Allo-Tram, the Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT)’s customer service line, to request more parking space at the train station.

According to Palladini, the borough is still waiting to hear whether the AMT will expand its 776-spot parking lot at the Roxboro-Pierrefonds station by 100 places behind the Marie-Reine-de-la-Paix church. She also mentioned the borough has experimented with different parking rules, such as prohibiting or limiting parking to one side of the road during certain times on a number of streets.

“We tried, on our own, to correct (the problem) by using all kinds of parking laws, but now we’re asking an outsider – a specialist in traffic – to help out,” Palladini said.

She added CIMA+ should have their report ready by the end of April or beginning of May. The borough will then hold a public consultation to present the results. Parking and traffic changes — which may include one-way streets — will then be made in the summer.