Despite the political storm brewing over the seasonal pedestrianization of Ste. Catherine Street in the Village, city officials has their eyes set on pedestrianizing even more streets. La Presse reports that City Hall is set to announce the partial pedestrianization of St. Paul Street between the Bonsecours Market and St. Laurent Boulevard:
Selon les informations obtenues, on compte s’inspirer de la piétonnisation estivale du marché Jean-Talon, dans Rosemont-Petite-Patrie, qui s’effectue du vendredi au dimanche, avec une plage horaire en matinée pour les camions de livraison. La possibilité d’accorder des vignettes de passage à certains résidants est aussi étudiée.
Sans vouloir entrer dans les détails, André Lavallée, responsable du projet piétonnier, a confirmé qu’il va présenter incessamment des «orientations très claires, qui vont améliorer de façon significative la qualité de vie des résidants, commerçants et visiteurs du Vieux-Montréal, a-t-il dit. Une fois que le projet ambitieux sera approuvé par le comité exécutif, nous allons demander l’avis de l’arrondissement de Ville-Marie, de la Table de concertation et de la Société de développement du Vieux-Montréal, et on fera des ajustements s’il y a lieu».
Ville-Marie mayor Benoît Labonté seems supportive of the project but urges the city to proceed slowly; the director of the Société de développement du Vieux-Montréal wants the city to embark on feasibility studies to make sure that pedestrianization will not adversely affect business on St. Paul and any of its adjacent streets.
It seems clear to me that if any street in Montreal is ripe for pedestrianization, it’s St. Paul. In the summer months, when it is invaded by masses of tourists, pedestrians spill off the narrow sidewalks and into the street. I have a hard time imagining how summertime pedestrianization would adversely affect business along the strip around Place Jacques Cartier; if anything, it would improve it by making it far more pleasant.
St. Paul isn’t the only street being considered for pedestrianization. While that project is being pushed by City Hall, there is interest at the borough level for pedestrianizing streets in Outremont, the Plateau, Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Sud-Ouest. More details from La Presse:
Avec la rue Prince-Arthur, entre le boulevard Saint-Laurent et le carré Saint-Louis, le Plateau-Mont-Royal a déjà la seule rue piétonnière permanente de Montréal(sic — why does everyone always forget about La Gauchetière in Chinatown?). Mais plusieurs portions de rue sont dans son collimateur afin de les rendre piétonnières dans les années à venir, après avoir consulté les citoyens et les commerçants, dit la mairesse Helen Fotopulos.
Ainsi, la rue Guilbault Est, entre le boulevard Saint-Laurent et la rue Saint-Dominique, la rue Gilford, entre la rue Saint-Denis et la station de métro Laurier, la rue Gauthier, entre l’avenue Papineau et la rue Parthenais et la rue Duluth, entre le parc Jeanne-Mance et le parc La Fontaine, pourraient être adaptées à la piétonnisation.
(…)
Dans Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, des zones piétonnes sont prévues dans le cadre de la transformation de la rue Notre-Dame. La mairesse Lyn Thériault ajoute que le développement du site Contrecoeur aura des zones piétonnes, mais sera-ce une rue? On ne le sait pas encore. Enfin, dans le Sud-Ouest, le projet Griffintown prévoit des zones piétonnes. La rue Olier devrait devenir piétonne, de même qu’un bout de la rue de la Montagne, près du bassin Peel.
11 comments
Justement en lien avec la photo de la gigantesque montagne de neige au Marché Jean-Talon (dans l’autre post): il serait temps que ses rues deviennent uniquement piétonnes! J’en ai marre d’aller au marché et de me faire arroser de slush par les autos des gens lambineux qui veulent se parker le plus proche possible de leur sac de carottes! Il y a un parking en dessous! Pour les livraisons: ben faites ca par en arrière! Les fins de semaines piétonnes sont un grand succès alors la semaine devrait l’être aussi!
I didn’t even read the whole article – only the title. but this is SOOOOO MUCH needed! St Paul is one of Old Montreal’s most beautiful streets, and it is *permanently* clugged with unbearable quantities of traffic struggling cars – that is, cars that struggle with nothing less but themselves.
and since we’re at it… why not pedestrianize the whole Old Montreal part of the city? Look at Vienna, Austria’s capital, of which the historical city center is completely car free *every day of the year* from 11:30 am on.
Making St-Paul a pedestrian street would make Old Montreal a stronger tourist attraction. I can think of countless times where I’ve struggled to show visitors around due to the crowds, narrow sidewalks and endless car traffic.
hmmm…not sure. But if one street in Montreal was ripe for it, it would be this one. The Disney-fication of Montreal streets….
Pedestrian ‘old’ districts are quite common in Europe. A newer trend is creating ‘green’ or ‘pedestrian’ corridors so that one can effectively move about the city while almost never being in proximity to a river of cars. It’s a wonderful idea….
It just might be the most beautiful street in all of North America – and please note, pretty dense and not a building over 4 storeys.
I think this is a fantastic idea.
Most of these cars are looking for parking anyway.
Check out my post on this topic.
http://transport514.wordpress.com/2008/02/24/important-book-that-you-must-read/
Check out my letter to Le Devoir in support of the project for ste-Catherine street:
http://www.ledevoir.com/2008/03/11/179806.html
Except it is very rare to get 4 storey buildings of the same quality today.
“and since we’re at it… why not pedestrianize the whole Old Montreal part of the city? Look at Vienna, Austria’s capital, of which the historical city center is completely car free *every day of the year* from 11:30 am on.”
If you mean Stephansplatz, Kaertnerstrasse, Kohlmarkt, Graben and a few other small alleyway sized streets – you’re right. However if you mean the entire 1st district that is unfortunately incorrect.
Many of the streets that are vehicle free are too also too narrow to support any car traffic – the occasional Vespa driver might try to get through. If the entire 1st district was to go car free there’d be huge protests. Austrians have a fairly green tint, but they still love their cars.
You just have to stand at Rotenturmgasse down the hill from Stefansdom at rushhour to know there are still a lot of cars in the middle of Vienna.
Yes! St-Paul! It is totally ridiculous to have cars on it. And the itsybitsy sidewalks kind of force the pedestrians onto the street part whenever they need to pass another pedestrian.
I wonder if the horses would still be allowed? They are technically walking, but it might be hard for them to actually get anywhere with a bunch of clueless pedestrians wandering around. Rigth of way for horses!!
Downtown montreal needs a project like the one in london,not paris