Snowdon councillor Sonny Moroz says a coroner’s report into a death on Bourret Ave. has not answered the key question: was road design to blame?
A local councillor says there are still unanswered questions surrounding the death of a pedestrian on Bourret Ave. in the Snowdon district last year.
An autopsy revealed Weizmann suffered from major injuries, including severe chest trauma and several fractures to her vertebrae and tibia.
Snowdon Councillor Sonny Moroz said he doesn’t believe the accident has been sufficiently analyzed.
“It is one of the most horrific incidents that happened in Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, and we don’t know the cause,” Moroz said. “I would really want the borough to take this issue more seriously, especially if we are going to build more bike paths. I would like to assure we put them in the right place.”
He is concerned that the coroner’s report made no mention of a study conducted by the city’s engineering department, which investigates all causes of accidents when there is a fatal crash.
Guillaume Rivest, a spokesperson for the city, confirmed the city’s engineering department analyzed the area after the crash. However, Lisa Cerasuolo, a spokesperson for C.D.N—N.D.G. borough mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa told The Gazette that the coroner did not ask to see that report.
Cerasuolo added that despite the analysis of the city’s engineering department, the city’s urban planning department did not study the area to determine how to improve road design, since the coroner didn’t conclude that road design caused the accident. The city rejected a Gazette request to obtain a copy of the engineer’s report and the coroner’s office also declined to provide the studies it obtained to make its conclusions.
Moroz said he would like the urban planning department to take another look at the area, as he feels the road design is problematic.
“Residents in the area and I have personally seen driving behaviours that are not safe because it’s clear that cars don’t park right against the sidewalk, and therefore it encroaches on the eastbound lane, causing cars to encroach on the westbound lane. Everything doesn’t fit perfectly in real life as it does on paper,” he said. “Unfortunately, a 55-year-old woman lost her life and we still don’t know the reasons for it, and I can’t guarantee that it won’t happen again, and as a local representative, that’s terrifying.”
Following the fatal accident, Hampstead’s mayor and local citizens called on the Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough to remove the bike path, saying the street is too narrow, especially when there are buses driving along it.
The coroner’s report indicated that the borough was working to make Bourret Ave. one way. Cerasuolo said the borough approved a plan to make Bourret Ave. one way on the portion west of Décarie and that would happen in the coming months, but Moroz said the city fire department recently rejected the borough plan.
He’s unsure of the future status of the street.
When Moroz spoke to The Gazette at the beginning of the month, he was also concerned for the safety of cyclists because the borough had not at that point reinstalled the green plastic posts on the street since removing them for the cold weather last year. Moroz was concerned that cars turning right quickly from Décarie Blvd. wouldn’t see cyclists if they happen to turn onto Bourret Ave. The posts had already been installed on Bourret Ave. east of Décarie.
“I saw more cyclists using the sidewalk than the bike path,” Moroz said. “I find that concerning, given we made infrastructure improvements so people bike more, but it’s not safe because of a lack of protection.”
The posts were finally added to the street last week, Moroz confirmed, roughly two months after most posts had been installed in the borough.
Katahwa declined The Gazette’s numerous requests to comment on the accident.