{"id":2359,"date":"2009-04-23T01:30:39","date_gmt":"2009-04-23T05:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingmontreal.ca\/2009\/04\/23\/i-feel-bad-for-the-mtq\/"},"modified":"2013-01-21T11:22:50","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T16:22:50","slug":"i-feel-bad-for-the-mtq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2009\/04\/23\/i-feel-bad-for-the-mtq\/","title":{"rendered":"“I feel bad for the MTQ”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

In the midst of the blogosphere-led fury over the Minist\u00e8re des transports du Qu\u00e9bec’s plan to rebuild the Turcot interchange (see Jacob Larsen’s lively post<\/a> excoriating the MTQ’s attempt at “greenwashing” the project), Urbanphoto’s Sam Imberman calls for a breather:<\/p>\n

So, let me get this out of the way first-thing: there is currently an interchange here, and for the time being, there isn\u2019t a way around that fact. And furthermore: if the Turcot were annihilated tomorrow, we would not necessarily be better off.<\/p>\n

See, it\u2019s not in question that in some ways, interchanges are Bad Things. They\u2019re noisy, polluting, and ugly. They interrupt the Urban Fabric, which as we all know is sacrosanct. And this interchange, in particular, is a Really Bad Thing: it\u2019s crumbling, it\u2019s on land which could be put to much better use, it\u2019s unsafe, it\u2019s hard to maintain, it \u201cenabled the entire West Island,\u201d et cetera. I agree with all of this.<\/p>\n

But now, for better or worse, the West Island exists, and these people basically have to get to work by car. We could, of course, ramp up train service, but that means investing heavily in rails, signals, and rolling stock, and commiting a lot more to the higher operating costs involved in running more trains. Then, we have to build up park-and-ride service, or pay for more buses on suburban arterials (or jitney service down winding West Island roads). It\u2019s expensive, and worse, it\u2019s institutionally really complicated, involving the AMT, the STM, Transports Qu\u00e9bec, and the CN Railroad, among others. And we still haven\u2019t fixed the crumbling interchange.<\/p>\n

For the time being, then, let\u2019s please accept that the Turcot will continue to exist. And if we\u2019re going to rebuild an interchange, we ought to be rebuilding it right. That means building with sensitivity to the neighbourhoods nearby, but it also means building to the highest roadway standards possible for the greatest common good possible, all while making reasonable compromises. And it also means that unfortunately, the neighbours will have to accept some discomfort while the thing is rebuilt.<\/p>\n

So I\u2019ll say it again: I feel bad for Transports Qu\u00e9bec. When they add in nonsensical bike paths, and carpool-and-bus lanes that link into nothing, and they present with words like \u201cgreen\u201d and \u201ccarbon neutral,\u201d it doesn\u2019t sound like malice to me; it doesn\u2019t even sound like an arrogant technocracy. It sounds like desperation. If there\u2019s something Transports Qu\u00e9bec should work on, maybe it\u2019s their marketing.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the full post here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Photo by Gabor Szilasi, via Walking Turcot Yards<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the midst of the blogosphere-led fury over the Minist\u00e8re des transports du Qu\u00e9bec’s plan to rebuild the Turcot interchange (see Jacob Larsen’s lively post excoriating the MTQ’s attempt at “greenwashing” the project), Urbanphoto’s Sam Imberman calls for a breather: So, let me get this out of the way first-thing: there is currently an interchangeContinue reading ““I feel bad for the MTQ””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7839,31],"tags":[3918,765,59,3919,120,46],"class_list":["post-2359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-neighbourhoods","category-traffic","tag-gabor-szilasi","tag-jacob-larsen","tag-st-henri","tag-sam-imberman","tag-turcot-interchange","tag-west-island"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n"I feel bad for the MTQ" - 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