Downtown motorists will have to wait until March to drive down the block of de Maisonneuve Blvd. between Aylmer and Union, the city has announced. By then, it will have been six months since the street was closed, after bike path construction cracked a concrete foundation underground. Currently, pedestrians and bicyclists are allowed on the block, but it remains closed to cars, trucks and buses.
Here’s an idea: why not keep this short stretch of de Maisonneuve closed to traffic? Pedestrians, bikes, buses and emergency vehicles could still be allowed to pass through, but everyone else would have to make a detour, just as they’re doing right now. An inviting public space could be created behind The Bay, with benches, trees and a fountain. Traffic on de Maisonneuve would be calmed, since fewer drivers would bother to take the street, and de Maisonneuve would become more than just the downtown traffic funnel it is today.
Since this block is already closed, drivers have had plenty of time to adapt. Keeping it permanently closed to cars won’t make much of a difference. Since drivers have already changed their habits, they’ll keep taking alternate routes instead — and a few might even be persuaded to stop driving downtown altogether. As you start making it a hassle to drive downtown, you begin to reduce the number of cars that circulate in its streets. Few parts of Montreal are as transit-accessible as the downtown core, where two metro lines, five commuter train lines and countless bus routes intersect. Rather than accommodating private vehicles, we should be restricting their use and reinforcing the quality of public transit and the pedestrian environment.
Until recently, de Maisonneuve has been a particularly sorry example of Montreal’s auto-centricism. Even though the metro runs underneath it, there was little effort made to make it an inviting space for pedestrians. Garage entrances, blank walls, narrow sidewalks and one-way traffic all conspired to make it little more than the service corridor to Ste. Catherine’s high street. With the recent improvement of de Maisonneuve’s sidewalks, the installation of the bike lane and the development of new apartment towers and retail spaces along the street, things are beginning to change. For once, de Maisonneuve actually has the potential to become a real gathering place. Creating a new public space between Aylmer and Union would only help things along.
The fissure created by the bike lane construction last September was an accident, but it has opened up the possibility of making a small but important step towards improving downtown’s pedestrian environment. Why return to the status quo?
Photo by Cedric Sam
4 comments
Bravo!
We visited Montreal min August and have decided to move there from Calgary in the summer of 2009. This was a favorite area and we would be thrilled to see it closed permanently. During August we encountered many closed streets while Fronco Follies and Nascar were taking place. Coming from a truly car dependent city, it was refreshing to see this type of planning and reception.
Moi je vote pour ça!
I’m not against the idea, but I’d like to see de Maisonneuve between Bishop and Guy (Concordia and Square Normand-Bethune) and between Bleury and Clark (quartier des spectacles) closed to car traffic first. But if this is the first step, then let’s go for it.
I’m all in favor of creating better public spaces, but this is one of those ideas that sounds great in theory but isn’t really very practical. Here’s why:
1) The space isn’t very inviting, no matter what you do. It’s in a concrete canyon between two tall, windowless buildings (The Bay on one side, and a parking garage on the other.) No amount of grass and benches and fountains will make such a setting appealing as a public space.
2) If you’re going to leave it open to bicycles, and more important, emergency vehicles, then that severely limits the amount of “greening” you can do to the space. After all, if fire trucks and ambulances can drive through, then it’s not an oasis, it’s just a blocked road.
3) The cars you speak of aren’t going to go away, they’re just going to be re-routed onto smaller roads (Pres. Kennedy). That creates noise and congestion. Period. Full stop. The reality is that urban centers NEED traffic funnels to keep the vehicles moving.
I’m not saying this as some kind of “pro car” guy. Not at all. I’m just trying to be realistic.
A better place to build a public space is just a couple of blocks from there; the space around the St. James church at the corner of rue Mayor and rue City Coucillors (now there’s a prophetic intersection if there ever was one…). It’s already a quiet, tree-lined space that has a beautiful old church as a back drop. The two intersecting streets are small and quiet. It’s perfect!
BTW, there’s also another semi-public space nearby. The garden between Christ Church and the KPMG building is a gorgeous urban retreat. Super quiet, nested between the back of the church to the south, the KPMG (which is an attractive glass building that reflects the church) to the north, and an historic house (formerly the Anglican version of a Glebe, I think) to the west. On the east it’s open to Ave. Union, but there’s a bit of space, plus a small hill and some archetectural artifacts to create a sense of separation. Aside from the throngs of people in suits you find there at lunch time, it’s a really cool space.