{"id":573768,"date":"2026-03-31T22:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T22:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/573768\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T22:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T22:02:14","slug":"montreal-west-high-school-to-get-crossing-guard-at-busy-intersection-after-multiple-incidents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/573768\/","title":{"rendered":"Montreal West high school to get crossing guard at busy intersection after multiple incidents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Montreal West is finally getting a crossing guard at a busy intersection near Royal West Academy \u2013 an area notorious for collisions. <\/p>\n

The corner of Westminster Avenue South and Ainslie Road has been a concern for parents since November 2024 after 14-year-old Royal West Academy student, Charlie Shein, was hit on his way to class. Luckily, he was not injured following the incident. <\/p>\n

A temporary crossing guard has been assigned beginning April 7 and will remain at the intersection until the end of the school year. It will, however, not be renewed for the 2026-2027 school year.<\/p>\n

\"\"Charlie Shein (left) on Dec. 16, 2024, and cars at the intersection of Ainslie Road and Westminster Avenue in Montreal West. (Erin Seize, CityNews)<\/p>\n

The push for safety grew in February when two more students were struck. <\/p>\n

Thirteen-year-old Sofia Milbrandt was walking back from a nearby train station with a friend on the morning of Feb. 16 when a car travelling south stopped at the intersection of Westminster and Ainslie streets.<\/p>\n

\"\"Sofia Milbrandt at the safety rally at Westminster and Ainslie street in Montreal West on Feb. 24, 2026 (Zachary Cheung, CityNews)<\/p>\n

Milbrandt said the driver must not have seen the two, because the next thing she knew, the car had suddenly accelerated, hitting both of them. <\/p>\n

Milbrandt\u2019s right leg was injured and treated at the hospital, but remains less-functional walking up and down stairs. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids are trying to cross four lanes of very busy traffic at rush hour with absolutely no light \u2013 no traffic light,\u201d said Joanna Duy, chairperson of the parent participation organization safety sub-committee of Royal West Academy. \u201cThey\u2019re relying on cars to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Joanna Duy, a parent at Royal West Academy, is shown in Montreal West on Dec. 21, 2025. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)<\/p>\n

Parents of kids at the school have been lobbying for safety measures for years, recently launching a petition to Quebec\u2019s National Assembly demanding a permanent crossing guard be assigned to reduce the risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just not a safe passage for kids to get to school,\u201d Duy said. <\/p>\n

Initially the province\u2019s current rules suggested crossing guards weren\u2019t to be assigned near high schools given secondary students are considered adult pedestrians \u2013 this was the response given in 2024 after a petition to the town and Montreal Police (SPVM) was submitted.<\/p>\n

But once it was brought to the National Assembly\u2019s attention, they clarified that this is only a guideline, not a strict rule \u2013 meaning that if there is the need, even at a high school, a crossing guard can be put in place. <\/p>\n

The SPVM then convened to analyze the case and deemed it appropriate to assign a crossing guard at this location \u2013 a huge relief for parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cA bit of a surprise actually after being told for so long that it wasn\u2019t feasible,\u201d Duy said. \u201cI\u2019m so glad that I won\u2019t have to get another text from my daughter, hopefully, saying why are there so many ambulances and firetrucks here at this intersection again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"People hold up signs at safety rally at Westminster and Ainslie street in Montreal West on Feb. 24, 2026 after multiple students were struck by cars. (Zachary Cheung, CityNews) <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping that they will help manage the difficult situation of having hundreds of kids trying to cross that street at once with very busy traffic,\u201d Duy added. \u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019s not going to be an easy job for the person working there, but we hope they\u2019ll be effective in keeping kids safe as they cross.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Montreal West is finally getting a crossing guard at a busy intersection near Royal West Academy \u2013 an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":573769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-573768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/573769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}