Hampstead considering local traffic relief options

By Joel Goldenberg

Hampstead has several options it is studying to relieve traffic on the town’s quiet streets resulting from morning rush hour prohibitions in Montreal, Mayor William Steinberg told the March council meeting.

Montreal has banned left turns on eastbound Van Horne Avenue onto Clanranald and Coolbrook between 7 and 9 a.m. Monday to Friday. Fleet Road in Côte St. Luc and Hampstead becomes Van Horne in Montreal. And as a result of traffic measures taken in Hampstead, cars travelling east on Fleet cannot make any left turns in the morning rush hour until they hit Queen Mary Road, at which point they use an alternate route to Decarie other than traffic-clogged Fleet. The streets affected by increased local traffic include Holly, Belsize and Wexford Crescent, which are north of Fleet Road.

Steinberg said last week that, as a result of working with traffic consultant Naomi Ben-David to find a solution, “there are at least a few very interesting things that we are considering doing. We think any of these things will result in a significant improvement, but we haven’t quite reached the point of determining exactly what we’re going to implement.”

Councillor Harvey Shaffer, in charge of the traffic portfolio on council, said Ben-David “prepared a very well-reasoned report.

“I believe, in the very near future, Hampstead will be announcing an extremely good solution to the vast majority of traffic problems, going west to east on Fleet. This, no doubt, will reduce the density of traffic going north in Queen Mary, east on Holly and onto Belsize. It will also considerably reduce traffic that goes further eastward into the Wexford Crescent area and then north on Harland and east on Ferncroft.

“I will leave it to the mayor to make that announcement at the appropriate time.”