FREE STAND. Allow me to express my opinion on the pilot project on the famous one-way traffic in the Fradet sector. First of all, without sarcasm, I consider myself a proud resident of Drummondville for the past 30 years. However, the decision to implement this pilot project is anything but a matter of course for our town hall.

You don’t have to be a keen observer to see that Drummondville has been growing steadily for several years. It is not for nothing that this city calls itself the “capital of development”. Every year, the city’s population grows significantly, and new districts are springing up at an equally impressive pace.

Demographic development of the city of Drummondville since 1996

(Sources: Statistics Canada, Statistical Institute of Quebec)

But what about our roads? Is the city adjusting its road network in the face of this significant population growth? By implementing this famous one-way pilot, the answer is yes, but what is the real intention behind this project? improve circulation? Certainly not. Let’s face it, this project is a total traffic nuisance for all citizens of the St-Nicéphore sector, who go to the ‘town’ every morning and return home early every evening. This underscores the famous “rush hours” that Drummondville now has (who would have thought)!

If you look at the city map, you can see that it’s designed in a kind of hourglass shape. Between Boulevard Jean-de-Brébeuf and Boulevard des Chutes (the narrow part of the hourglass), we can see that only four streets cross this section in a north-south direction (Boulevard Saint-Joseph, Boulevard Mercure, Rue Daniel and Rue Fradet). So what a great idea to block two out of four to direct all traffic towards Boulevard Saint-Joseph and Boulevard Mercure, which are already congested (you can see sarcasm here)…

Also, what another excellent decision to have gone with the 111^e Avenue to divert traffic towards Boulevard Mercure for those taking Rue Fradet and Rue Daniel. At this crossing we find the primary school Christ-Roi. It’s a well-known fact that all cities try to increase unnecessary traffic around elementary schools to make them safer (another touch of sarcasm here).

If we look again at the city map, we can see that Drummondville (upper part of the hourglass) has practically no vacant lots. The lower part of the hourglass, which we call the St-Nicéphore sector, has not yet finished growing, as it still occupies several green areas that will be converted into residential areas in the near future. One thinks, among other things, of the “Les Découvertes” project, a future natural area with almost 400 new plots of land, which will be located in what is currently a vast forest area behind the giant tiger, north of the Brouillette estate.

This other major housing project in the St-Nicéphore sector is added to those of Vigneron, Marconi, Domaine Brouillette, Boisbriand sector, Grande-Allée sector and several others that have undergone significant development in recent years. It is not for nothing that an imposing all-purpose facility is being built in this sector.

In short, the equation is simple: new neighborhoods = more citizens, therefore more cars, therefore more traffic, therefore more solutions need to be found to improve traffic flow. Are the one-way streets in the Fradet sector a logical solution to improve traffic flow? The answer is clearly: no…

So to try to answer the original question: what is the actual intention behind this project? Certainly not to please the greatest possible number of citizens, as evidenced by the hundreds of opinions against this project on the Ville de Drummondville website: https://forum.drummondville.ca/participation-citoyenne/projet-pilote-secteur-fradet-daniel

Let’s create a similar situation with the St Charles sector. A project analogous to that of the one-way streets in the Fradet sector would be to permanently close the Curé-Marchand Bridge (the old bridge connecting St-Charles to Drummondville) and allow all traffic to flow only over the Traverse Bridge (the new bridge, which is also already congested) for rather nebulous reasons that seem to appeal to only a tiny proportion of the population (less than 0.5% if we rely on the survey).

So it would only take a group of 5-6 plaintiffs who would happily walk their dog on the old bridge for the City of Drummondville to submit such a pilot. Would the city really look into this? Would it actually be tested and implemented by the city? With citizen money? Is that really how it works? If this is indeed the case, I believe that this approach should be reviewed quickly. Furthermore, would the city give as much importance to grievances in a less affluent neighborhood as it does in the Fradet sector, coming from less affluent people? Allow me to doubt it…

Finally, I would like to mention that everyone sometimes makes good moves and sometimes not so good ones. Sometimes good decisions are made at the political level, but sometimes not so good ones. It doesn’t matter to take less good ones, but correcting them is enough. In the case we’re dealing with, that joke has gone on long enough. It is high time for the city to correct itself and listen to almost all citizens who oppose this project. It’s time to get rid of those one-way streets and go back to basics, which are streets designed for two-way traffic.

With all due respect (even in my rather sarcastic passages), thank you for correcting this issue.

Sebastien Guilbault, Drummondville

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