Avenue du Mont-Royal | Year-round pedestrianization considered, but not in the short term

Should Mont-Royal Avenue be pedestrianized all year round? Under increasing pressure from citizens, the City of Montreal confirms that it is having “discussions” and is not closing the door in the long term, but will not move forward for the moment. In the commercial sector, caution is recommended first.

“It’s not for right away, nor for next year, but we’ll never say never. There’s still a lot of work to do to get there. It’s a project that would require a major transformation of the street. That said, we already have discussions underway,” confided in an interview the city councillor for the De Lorimier district, Marianne Giguère.

Cars have been banned from traffic since the end of May and began to circulate again on Mont-Royal Avenue on Thursday. However, the idea of ​​extending this pedestrianization to all year round is gaining more and more support. A demonstration was held in the evening on Thursday to demand a year-round ban on cars. Note: between Saint-Denis Street and Saint-Laurent Boulevard, pedestrianization will continue until mid-October.

“There are more and more pedestrian streets that will remain so year-round, particularly in Old Montreal. On Mount Royal, this would allow the City to better organize public transportation services, adapted transportation, and even to allow pedestrians and cyclists to coexist,” says Olivier Labrèche, a resident who initiated the demonstration and is also a spokesperson for the political movement Transition Montreal.

On social media, citizens are also asking for more. “I would have taken at least one more month. I find it strange that the part with the most restaurants and bars is closed first,” says one user, Geneviève Arpin, in surprise.

Lots of work

In the immediate future, the main issue, says Marianne Giguère, is precisely public transit. Line 97, which runs along the artery, is in fact highly appreciated and has been used for years. “There are seniors, students, people from everywhere who take it. Moving the route to Saint-Joseph, for example, would mean additional walking time that is not easy for everyone,” says the elected official.

“In the summer, we can compensate with taxi services or BIXIs, but if we wanted to start thinking about keeping the street pedestrian year-round, we would first have to resolve this aspect. It is too important, especially since the Mont-Royal metro station has just been completely redesigned,” she continues, specifying that snow removal would also pose certain operational challenges.

According to M^me Giguère, “about 65% of merchants are in favor of pedestrianization.” “In short, the fact remains that, for some, it makes things more difficult. We need these businesses to liven up the street. We have to take it step by step.”

A survey conducted last summer by the Observer, on behalf of the local Commercial Development Corporation (SDC), revealed that 43% of traders observed an increase in their turnover during the pedestrianization; 25% saw no impact and 30% a downward effect.

Gradual, the watchword

At the SDC on Mont-Royal Avenue, general manager Claude Rainville first calls for “taking a step back.” “We’ve been around for 40 years, and for 35 years, the street was pedestrianized eight days a year. Now, it’s almost 30% of the time, so we’re moving forward. We have to look at where we’re starting from and where we’re going,” he says.

“The next step for us will be to define where we want to be in 2030. In 2025, in fact, it will not be the sixth edition, but rather the first edition of a new cycle. We know that we cannot do a copy and paste every year either if we want to keep people’s interest,” continues Mr. Rainville.

In 5 to 10 years, recalls the SDC’s DG, “the City will redo the infrastructure on Mont-Royal Avenue.” “When we get there, it could be time to think about a new development. That will be the next important meeting. Currently, it’s as if we were changing the model with an old structure, while waiting for one day, perhaps, to redo the structure,” persists the manager.

That said, the renovation of Mont-Royal “will not necessarily come first in the next 10 years,” qualifies M^me Giguère: “We won’t stop ourselves from rethinking the street if we want to go further in the meantime. But I agree: we could hang on to that to rethink the geometry of the street.”

Olivier Labrèche, for his part, is hoping for rapid change, like the rest of the protesters. “Five to 10 years is a bit long, from our perspective, but it’s still good to see that it’s in the long-term plans. We hope to have transitional gestures by then,” concludes the Montrealer.