Concerned by the risk of creating a “Griffintown 2.0”, the mayor of Longueuil considers it “essential” to revitalize the metro sector by creating a neighborhood on a human scale – with a school, local shops and infrastructure protecting pedestrians and residents. cyclists.
“It is essential to revitalize the metro sector in Longueuil,” said Catherine Fournier in an interview with Duty. Elected as mayor in November 2021, she plans to follow up on the ambitious transformation plan for this neighborhood, presented in 2018 by the mayor at the time, Sylvie Parent.
The mayor of Longueuil is hopeful of convincing Quebec to redevelop the highways and access ramps that surround the metro station. The goal is to make the area more friendly for pedestrians and cyclists. She recognizes that it is a considerable challenge: getting Longueuil out of the “car culture” that has dominated urban planning since the last century.
Catherine Fournier believes it is possible to reconcile active mobility and the fluidity of automobile traffic. “We still like to recall the new name of the Ministry of Transport, which now includes Sustainable Mobility. It’s a reminder of how this should be a reality,” she says.
The City of Longueuil’s special urban planning program (PPU) provides for a reorganization of access to the Jacques-Cartier Bridge and all of the highway ramps which converge towards the Longueuil metro station. This sector is home to one of the largest bus terminals in Quebec, with 42 platforms, and one of the busiest stations on the Montreal metro.
We still like to recall the new name of the Ministry of Transport, which now includes Sustainable Mobility. It’s a reminder of how this should be a reality.
No less than 76,000 bus or metro passengers, as well as tens of thousands of motorists, pass through this transport nerve center every day.
“Fluidity in the sector is still difficult. There is a lot of congestion. When you leave Route 132 to take the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, these are the same traffic lanes as to access the metro sector. We want to ensure that by increasing the number of people living in the area, we do not worsen the problem,” explains Mayor Fournier.
The area around the metro has no less than 10,000 parking spaces, according to city figures. It is a veritable sea of concrete, which transforms into a heat island in summer.
Like everywhere else in Montreal — we are just two metro stations from Berri-UQAM — thousands of people now travel on foot or by bike in the area. These cyclists and pedestrians come up against a “physical barrier” – the viaducts which cross the highway ramps – to get to the Longueuil metro station, recognizes the mayor.
“The Ministry of Highways”
Professor Gérard Beaudet, from the School of Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Montreal, wishes the mayor of Longueuil good luck in her discussions with the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility.
“It’s the highways ministry,” says the town planner. He recalls that the Turcot megainterchange in Montreal was rebuilt almost identically 10 years ago, despite calls to reserve green spaces and cycle lanes.
Gérard Beaudet gives a bad grade to the Legault government when it comes to transport. The theoretical return of the third link project to Quebec, the propensity to develop highways and the reluctance to finance public transport show a government “which is not a good player”, according to him.
A South Shore REM
The urban planner also criticizes the scrapping of the tramway project in Longueuil, which was proposed in 2020 by former mayor Sylvie Parent. “The Prime Minister killed it by saying: ‘No more madness’,” summarizes Gérard Beaudet.
He deplores that the Legault government is now seeking to impose a Metropolitan Express Network (REM) for the South Shore, without any consultation. This electric train would connect the Panama station of the current REM, in Brossard, and the Édouard-Montpetit CEGEP, via Vieux-Longueuil.
Mayor Catherine Fournier recalls that her condition for the establishment of a future REM was heard by the government: “We cannot accept an aerial structure in the heritage sector of Vieux-Longueuil. »
“The project they are analyzing is a ground-based REM in the Vieux-Longueuil portion. On the other hand, it would still be aerial on Taschereau Boulevard. It would certainly be interesting to have something other than concrete on Taschereau. There are great examples of urban integration of elevated light rail in other cities around the world,” she says.
“The priority is to have a structuring transportation project to offer an alternative to solo driving to people on the South Shore. This responds to a need that is absolutely glaring. When there is no public transportation offer, we cannot expect people to make a transfer,” adds Mayor Fournier.
Governance Challenge
Fanny Tremblay-Racicot, professor of urban studies at the National School of Public Administration, notes major difficulties in governance between Quebec and municipalities in terms of planning. The standoff between the Legault government and the mayor of Quebec over the construction of a tramway shows the limits of the current model.
The specialist notes that the TransLink organization in Vancouver plans both public transportation and the road network, which “gives leverage to the local level.”
She recalls that in Longueuil, citizens dream of a park and a beach along the river, like that of the Samuel-De Champlain promenade in Quebec. It took “very strong political will” and collaboration between the City and the National Capital Commission to achieve this. But the project became reality.