CSL, Hampstead at peace on Fleet restrictions

By Joel Goldenberg

Hampstead’s latest changes to its left-turn morning rush hour restrictions on eastbound Fleet Road has dampened the recent tensions between the town and Côte St. Luc, The Suburban has learned.

“I think it’s working very well,” Mayor Anthony Housefather told The Suburban after the May council meeting. “Traffic has improved greatly and we’re going to continue to work with Hampstead so that we can optimize synchronization and continue to work with engineers on both sides. But it’s working much, much better now.”

Earlier this year, Hampstead — heeding complaints from residents on streets north of Fleet like Netherwood Crescent and Ferncroft that too many cars were driving in their area on weekday mornings, making it difficult for them to get out of their driveways — determined that from 7 to 9 a.m., cars could only turn left on a flashing light at the western part of Netherwood and Queen Mary, and not at all onto Netherwood at its eastern portion.

Côte St. Luc councillor Glenn Nashen, in charge of public security on his council, reacted on his blog by stating that the rules caused confusion and traffic tie-ups, and that the restrictions “threatened relations” between the two communities.

Weeks later, Hampstead made changes to the restrictions to improve traffic flow. No left turns are now permitted at Netherwood between 7 and 9 a.m., and left turns are allowed at Queen Mary through a “solid green light permitting cars to go straight or turn, and a limited-time flashing green providing an opportunity for a protected left turn.”
Asked about the 7-9 a.m. prohibition on left turns off eastbound Fleet onto Netherwood, Housefather said Hampstead has “no obligation” to allow cars to turn onto their streets.
“What they have an obligation to do is make sure Fleet runs smoothly. They can turn on Queen Mary. If they’re desperate to get into Hampstead, they can also turn right on Minden, left on Hampstead Road and left on Queen Mary. We have no right to tell Hampstead whether to allow left turns — they are allowing left turns at other times of the day.” He added that as long as cars are not blocking Fleet’s left lane, Côte St. Luc has no objection.

Nashen said he would have preferred no left-turn restrictions at all on eastbound Fleet.

“Having said that, it’s a big improvement from the way it was when the lane was blocked. It’s a compromise between the two cities we can both live with. Where we have to focus our attention now is that between Côte St. Luc and Hampstead, we can exert some influence on Montreal to make changes [on Van Horne leading up to Decarie].”

Housefather also said it does not look like Hampstead will replace its Fleet stop signs with synchronized lights, as was proposed during the merger era.

“It’s not worth pursuing things that aren’t going to happen and, to be honest, there’s no blockage in Hampstead. What Hampstead has done — even though the lights at Dufferin and Macdonald are not synchronized — they visually synchronized the lights to allow cars to move forward and you’re not really stalled until you get to Montreal territory at McLynn and Clanranald.”

Nashen said the bigger picture is to open Cavendish to St. Laurent.

“That will alleviate so much traffic.”

But in the short term, said Housefather, Côte St. Luc appreciates Hampstead’s changes.