The Bridge-Bonaventure sector could have up to 7,600 housing units, including thousands of social and affordable housing units, according to the development master plan presented by the administration of Valérie Plante on Wednesday.
The plan provides in particular to strengthen the vocation of employment center, but also to create a new living environment with the development of a residential component. Mayor Valérie Plante spoke on Wednesday of a potential for 1,500 social housing units and 1,500 affordable housing units given the requirements of the Regulations for a mixed metropolis.
Except that Mayor Plante, who deplores the underfunding of social housing projects by the Quebec government, admits that the City’s objective could be difficult to achieve. “When we know that since 2019, there are very few units – only 200 – that have been funded by the Government of Quebec, that makes me fear, necessarily,” she admitted during a point of view. press at City Hall.
Currently, the Bridge-Bonaventure sector is crossed by rail, highway and port infrastructures, but the City intends to green the area and promote the deployment of an active and public transport network. The plan notably proposes the development of 12 kilometers of additional cycle paths.
REM station
On Wednesday, the person in charge of urban planning on the executive committee, Robert Beaudry, insisted on the need to set up a station of the Metropolitan Express Network (REM) in this sector, which CDPQ Infra, the subsidiary of the Caisse de depot et placement du Québec (CDPQ), which is piloting the light rail project.
“It’s an investment, an REM station in that sector, because it acts as a lever for economic and urban development,” argued Robert Beaudry. The city’s plan proposes to set up a REM station at the intersection of Wellington and Bridge streets, approximately one kilometer from the future Bernard-Landry-Griffintown station.
For the time being, CDPQ Infra, which is soon to proceed with the inauguration of the first section of the REM between Brossard and Central Station in Montreal, does not have such a station in its plans. “Our priority is to bring the REM reference project into service with its 67 kilometers and 26 stations. Any modification to the scope of this must be part of the framework of collaboration in place between the Government of Quebec and CDPQ Infra,” commented by email Emmanuelle Rouillard-Moreau, communications advisor at CDPQ Infra.
Last year, real estate developers complained about the too low densities planned by the City in terms of housing for this strategic sector. They themselves proposed a potential of 7,500 housing units, while the City was then considering around 4,000.
On Wednesday, they did not wish to comment on the draft master plan presented by the City. “The Vision Bridge-Bonaventure consortium, made up of promoters Groupe Devimco, Groupe Mach, Broccolini and COPRIM, takes note of the filing of the Master Plan,” said André Bouthillier, Executive Vice-President at National. “Its members will take the time to analyze it and will continue their productive discussions with the City of Montreal over the coming weeks. We will make public our improved vision for the development of the Bridge-Bonaventure sector soon. »
The Master Plan for the development of the Bridge-Bonaventure sector was approved Wednesday morning by the executive committee and will be the subject of a consultation led by the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM).