Laval voted on Tuesday to remove the blue-and-white stripes from the curbs of sidewalks near homes and parks without playgrounds that some residents are calling a waste of money.

The painted curbs were part of the city's plan in 2017 to caution drivers to slow down near parks and elementary schools.

At the time, residents expressed confusion and surprise over the $750,000 project. The city says it will now cost another $250,000 to remove the paint from some of the curbs.

City of Laval spokesperson Anne-Marie Braconnier said the decision was made after hearing the feedback from residents.

"[We] considered both the financial aspect of the operation and the issue of safety for citizens and road users," she said of the city's decision.

In 2017, Laval announced plans to paint the curbs near 220 local parks and 80 elementary schools. However, a few months later, the city passed a resolution suspending the project after nearly 90 curbs had been painted.

Coun. Michel Poissant says that the city wasted $1 million that it could have spent on repairing roads and installing speed bumps. (Chloe Ranaldi/CBC)

A waste of money, opposition says

Action Laval, the opposition party at city hall, says the whole project was a mismanagement of taxpayer money.

"Basically it's $1 million down the drain," said Action Laval Coun. Michel Poissant, who voted to erase the markings.

"We have to correct it as a city, even if it's another quarter-of-a-million dollars."

He said the money should have instead been spent on fixing roads and installing speed bumps.

"To maintain the lines, the city would have had to spend $750,000 every two years," said opposition Coun. Aglaia Revelakis, pointing to the sidewalk outside Souvenir Elementary School, where the blue-and-white lines had begun to chip.

Revelakis says she has received numerous complaints about the project being a waste of money.

Coun. Aglaia Revelakis says the blue-and-white stripes have not been effective in slowing people down, and wishes the city would spend its money elsewhere. (Chloe Ranaldi/CBC)

Resident calls for more traffic-calming measures

Anastasia Maziotis, who lives across the street from Kennedy Park in the city's Chomedey district, says residents in her area have been asking for traffic-calming measures for years.

"People don't slow down for [the painted curbs], it's almost all gone here anyways," she says.

She believes speed bumps would be the best way to deter drivers from driving fast in residential neighbourhoods.

Maziotis, who has lived in Laval for 20 years, says the city should just leave the painted sidewalks and not spend any more money on it.

"At this point, it will fade on its own," she says. "It's our tax money and this was completely useless."

Braconnier says the paint in front of homes and parks without playing areas will be erased. The city currently has no plans to put any other kind of marking at those spots.