This was the news that emerged from Montreal’s Executive committee today, regarding the $1.5 billion redevelopment of the Turcot Interchange. Almost 18 months after the project was announced, Montreal’s executive committee has finally stood up for the ideas expressed in its 2007 Transportation Plan, namely reducing car dependency. As reported by the Gazette yesterday:
The city wants the provincial government to pay more attention to how public transit and carpooling will figure in the final version of the plan, as well as what steps will be taken for homeowners who will be displaced by the construction work […]
It may just be opportuistic politics presented by the upcoming provincial election that has prompted the City into action, but that doesn’t matter. It’s becoming clear to Mayor Tremblay that there is major opposition to this project and he can’t afford to ignore it.
Citizens groups like Mobilization Turcot already fighting this project should up the ante. I hope to see some mass media actions around the Turcot, like the Tour de Bronx on the Sheridan Expressway in NYC. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMZWLU7iHOw[/youtube]
6 comments
I agree that this is a very promising development! I also agree that it is somewhat self serving in that they really have nothing to lose by taking this stand… They know full well that the MTQ has already been working to repackage the highway into a more palatable format… And the municipal elections are just around the corner…
What’s great is that people are starting to talk about the issues; starting to question the status quo… And the university community has jumped on board in a major way: There will be a ‘charrette’ in February of 2009 that brings together people from across the board (urban planners and transit enthusiasts and city officials and ‘experts’ etc) … All with the objective of finding sustainable options to the Turcot plan … :-D How cool is that… Check out http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/ageur/?Charrette (registration is in january so meanwhile, lend Mrs Campbell your support: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mrs-Campbell/40731087076
That is just a great shot! Do you have any more from that location? Would love to post them :P
Thanks for posting this Jacob. That video is joyfully inspiring.
Oh ho ho… it’ll be a while before anyone takes the plunge into
a) convincing the police to let us go on the highway
b) reclaiming some highway space illegally
I don’t see it happening any time soon, Jacob. Not even critical mass montreal is bold enough to go there.
Lily, I agree the police would not be happy to see us on the highway (nor would drivers, with 100+ cyclists trying to merge into the lane in front of them :)
but I think it would be a worthwhile exercise nonetheless.
The city is interested in the MTQ revising its plan. It has apparent property interests in at least two facilities facing expropriation–the Centre Gadbois in St. Henri and the Éco-centre near the canal. At least ostensibly, they’d like to see their 2007 Transportation Plan implemented.
A high profile, low-disturbance period bike ride across the Turcot would only energize civil society and grassroots critiques, (see the Conseil régional de l’environment, http://www.cremtl.qc.ca/). They’re pushing the city for less private auto capacity – why not help in this effort?
No idea what they are trying to do with this.
This is the most important highway interchange in the region. It is a hub of the transit network not only for Montreal, but for Quebec and the whole “northeast region”
So the city wants to make it a traffic jam?
What is wrong with the MTQ plans, that it isn’t “screwing” the motorists enough? It isn’t like they are increasing capacity but barely maintaining it.
And for the guy who wants to put a cycling on the interchange, I hope you are comfortable with painting those sections of the 15, 20 and 720 red with blood. There are no “low disturbance” periods here. This is a limited access expressway designed for high speed moving of traffic, and the traffic takes it with the knowledge that there are no idiots on bikes or slow vehicles. A boulevard is a boulevard but an autoroute is not. A bicycle hit by a car going 100 km/h could kill the occupants in the car, not even saying the cyclist who would be thrown in the air a hundred feet. Why?