Part of Old Montreal will be made entirely pedestrian from the summer of 2024, has pledged Mayor Valérie Plante.
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This is what she announced during the second edition of the Montreal Climate Summit, which is being held at the Grand Quay of the Port of Montreal until Wednesday.
“We want [faire] of Old Montreal the kingdom of pedestrians, ”she said Tuesday morning. “Rue Saint-Paul is already pedestrianized in the summer, but quietly we will go further.”
The area reserved for pedestrians has not yet been demarcated. The City of Montreal will meet with merchants in the coming months before making its decision.
The question of the delivery of restaurateurs, but also of the management of garbage “is going to be a major challenge”, recognized Sophie Mauzerolle, responsible for mobility on the executive committee of the City.
The elected official did not wish to commit to the size of the zone dedicated to pedestrians, namely whether it will be a few streets or half of Old Montreal.
The leader of the official opposition also criticizes the Plante administration for arriving “with an announcement on the corner of the table”.
“Let’s take the example of Europe where pedestrian streets are announced in good and due form on a few streets with targeted hours,” said Aref Salem.
A applauded decision
The pedestrianization delighted the general manager of Piétons Québec, who expects a positive impact on tourism.
“Pedestrians are already taking over the street a lot [dans le Vieux-Montréal]“Said Sandrine Cabana-Degani. “The sidewalks are narrow and the design makes sure pedestrians will naturally walk down the street.”
The measure is part of the initiatives taken by the City to decarbonize transport in the metropolis by 2040.
Nearly 40% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are due to transportation in Quebec, said Ms. Plante.
While this proposal is not likely to reduce GHGs in the short term, it could encourage people to turn to a more pedestrian lifestyle, according to Karel Mayrand, co-chair of the Montreal Climate Partnership, which organizes the Summit.
“People don’t come by car anymore because the traffic in Old Montreal was hellish,” he said.
“Worrying” increase
Greenhouse gas emissions have also continued to increase in the metropolis since 2016, except in 2020 during the pandemic, reported “La Presse” in the morning.
“Yes it is worrying,” admitted the mayor. “We know that we were in a good mood. Our goals remain the same.”
In order to reduce its carbon footprint, the Plante administration intends to move forward with its redevelopment project for boulevard Henri-Bourassa already proposed in October 2021. It wishes to develop a structuring transport network there with reserved lanes and cycle paths. .
“This is an axis where there is the most bus travel,” said Éric Alan Caldwell, chairman of the board of directors of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM).
Thus, this project would make it possible to connect four major public transit infrastructures, namely the Du Ruisseau station of the REM currently under construction, the Henri-Bourassa station on the orange line of the metro, the Pie-IX rapid bus service (SRB) and the future Lacordaire station of the Est structuring project, formerly REM de l’Est.
A first section will be modified this year between Félix-Leclerc and Miniac streets, in the borough of Saint-Laurent. Another part of the boulevard will also be redeveloped in the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville in 2024.