Some residents of a working-class Montreal community are accusing their neighbours in the affluent suburb next door of being elitist for blocking the only street connecting the neighbourhoods.

A recently erected road barrier has driven a wedge between the ordinary apartment blocks in the borough of Lachine and the leafy, moneyed streets of Montreal West.

Alexandre Renaud, 13, attended a protest Monday opposing a road barrier between Lachine and Montreal West. (Andy Blatchford/Canadian Press)Lachine residents at the bottom of what's called Devil's Hill say citizens of Montreal West refer to them as "the people down there."

"This is an elitist issue," said Lachine resident Pat Schmidt, a passionate leader of the campaign to keep the street open.

"In Montreal West, there is a feeling of superiority.

"There's a class distinction and it's sad. Nobody likes to talk about that, but unfortunately, it is the reality."

Concrete flower pots, Do Not Enter signs and bendable plastic poles sit along the Montreal West town line, closing off the only road leading up the slope from Lachine.

Schmidt said the fight over Devil's Hill — officially known as Broughton Road — has raged on and off for almost two decades. Barricades have gone up and come down three times in the past six years.

The bitter border dispute has led the City of Montreal, which represents Lachine, into a court battle with Montreal West.

A Quebec judge ruled in January that Montreal West was within its rights when it closed the street.

Lachine has launched an appeal and argues its neighbour has no right to block the road until the legal proceedings are heard.

Some Montreal West residents who live atop Devil's Hill say motorists frequently race along Broughton, known to locals as a short cut to the nearby highway.

"We don't want crazies coming through as they do," Montreal West Mayor Campbell Stuart said in an interview with Canadian Press.

"People get drunk [and] they drive through there. It happens and we're not going to wait until someone gets killed before we finally do something about it."

Lachine residents, about 50 of whom held a boisterous demonstration to protest the barrier Monday evening, said the closure creates a significant detour for emergency vehicles and adds travel time to reach stores in Montreal West.

Emergency vehicles can still pass, mayor says

Stuart said the flexible bollards were installed to ensure fire trucks and ambulances could still gain access to the borough via Broughton. He said the alternative route to his town takes only 29 seconds.

"The optics are great for people who want to parade up and down, and the optics are great for people who want to talk in the press about, you know, abuse of rights and all that kind of stuff, but the fact of the matter is … they're wrong and they should just back off," Stuart said.

"They can appeal it if they like, but they don't get to tell us in the meantime we still can't close the road. We won the case."

Montreal West resident Pierre Shousha, who lives beside the barrier, said he and his neighbours have to protect themselves from the traffic.

"The most important thing is what we've gained now is the safety of our streets," he said as protesters waved placards and chanted "It's abuse! Barricade down!" in front of his house.

Shousha said somebody threw a bag of dog poo over his fence and onto his driveway after the roadblock went up.

"This is the type of people they are," he said.

Lachine resident Trina Cholewicki grew up in Montreal West, but bought a home in the more affordable neighbourhood at the bottom of Devil's Hill.

She said she knows what some people in Montreal West think of their Lachine neighbours.

"I was never allowed down on the street that I live on now as a child," said Cholewicki, who took part in the demonstration.

"People in Montreal West don't talk to us anymore. It's really too bad that it came to this."