The extension of Boulevard de l’Assomption cannot be done without partially destroying the Steinberg woodland, one of the last natural environments in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, according to the different project scenarios obtained by The duty. Citizens in the area who have been campaigning for the protection of green spaces for years have already promised to block any project that would encroach on this wooded area, while an announcement is planned for March.
The City of Montreal and the borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve are stingy with comments on the issue of extending Boulevard de l’Assomption to the south, a project designed essentially to facilitate industrial trucking in this sector located very close to the port from Montreal, the Ray-Mont Logistiques (RML) container transshipment site and Highway 25.
We simply repeat that a “public presentation” is planned “at the beginning of spring” – in March according to our information – with a view to carrying out this road development mentioned several times in recent years. “Several scenarios are still on the table at the moment and various discussions are still underway,” underlines the City, in a written response.
We add that “the design of this project is carried out in line with the new vision for the sector” and that the scenario which will ultimately be retained “must imperatively aim to improve the quality of life of residents by reducing nuisances”, in addition to “maximizing the preservation and acquisition of green spaces”.
Woody Steinberg
The duty has however obtained, notably following a request for access to information, different scenarios developed since 2022 and presented in official documents from the City of Montreal, including a “confidential” report. All scenarios involve the destruction of part of the woodland.
A very recent visual simulation of the “new vision” for the sector shows that the extension of Boulevard de l’Assomption would encroach on the Steinberg woodland, with a semi-circular exit route which would make it possible to reach Avenue Souligny. An official City document entitled “Assomption South Project” and dating from the beginning of 2022 also recommended this type of adjustment to the project “in order to reduce the footprint and safeguard the green potential of the land”.
Several scenarios are still on the table at the moment and various discussions are still ongoing
In a letter sent a few weeks later by the town hall of the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district to the Montreal executive committee, it was nevertheless said to fear the reaction of citizens in the area, who have been demanding total protection of the Steinberg woodland for several years now. .
“Considering the mobilization in the sector, it is important that the scenario that will be presented is supported by arguments, studies and analyzes and that there are local benefits to present. The City must be exemplary,” we can read in this letter, where Mayor Pierre Lessard-Blais emphasized that “distrust is deeply rooted among citizens, and with good reason.”
In a note dated March 2022, the district also insisted on the need for an “enhancement” of the “Assomption-Souligny extension” project, without which it “will be the subject of very strong opposition from the from citizens and social movements, which will certainly have the effect of greatly disrupting the realization of the project.
The document cites as an example the idea of “developing new green spaces and establishing ecological continuity” within the framework of the road project. In a response to questions from Duty, the borough assures today that “the vision” for the sector has changed and that “the collaboration” for the development of the project which will be presented this spring “is much better”. However, no details are given on the fate reserved for the Steinberg woodland.
Opposition to the extension
In a series of written responses produced by the town planning and mobility department in November 2022, it was argued that the extension of Boulevard de l’Assomption aims to “direct as quickly as possible onto the upper road network the heavy vehicles heading to and from the Port of Montreal. The same document specifies that “the majority” of the Steinberg woodland would be preserved, but not the entirety of this parcel of territory.
Co-spokesperson for the Mobilization 6600 group, which campaigns for the protection of the wooded area, Anaïs Houde bluntly states that citizens will oppose any project that would involve the destruction of part of this green space. “We don’t want another trucking project, especially after Ray-Mont Logistiques. And we will not accept any green makeup of the project that will be presented to us,” she insists.
Last fall, residents of the area organized a “plantation demonstration” in opposition to the extension of Boulevard de l’Assomption. They then planted different species of trees in order to diversify the plant cover of the site. This is notably, with the Vimont woodland, located further south, an important sector for dozens of species of birds. According to the specialist site eBird, 143 species have been recorded there.
“Nuisance”
Another document from the City of Montreal designated as “confidential” and for “internal use” only presents the boulevard extension project, but also the “discussions” with the CN to acquire the railway tracks located to the west of the site de (RML) and southwest of the Steinberg woodland.
“The arrival of RML in the sector will induce rail traffic never seen in the sector since the years of Canadian Steel Foundries”, a company which occupied the same site until 2004. “This activity will inevitably cause nuisance to the neighboring sector », Underlines the document, referring to the passage of 100 wagons per day, which will cause “multiple nuisances (noise, dust, light pollution)”.
With the aim of creating a “buffer zone between industrial and residential uses at this location”, the town planning and mobility department therefore “strongly” recommends acquiring a strip of land 45 meters wide, at the same the CN right-of-way, with a view to establishing a “linear park”.
Negotiations with CN are still ongoing, the City confirmed today. It is possible that an announcement related to this potential preserved green space will be part of the unveiling of road projects for the sector, including the extension of Boulevard de l’Assomption.
In a written response to questions from Duty, RML assures that it “is actively continuing discussions with the stakeholders concerned for the harmonious integration of its activities in the sector”. We add that “there are already several trucks circulating on the site and sound studies carried out by acoustic experts show the compliance of activities below the applicable sound thresholds, at all times”.