Although the Boisé Steinberg was purchased this fall by the City of Montreal to ensure its protection, many residents remain worried about the prospect of this green space being disfigured by a project to extend Boulevard de l’Assomption. A few dozen demonstrators braved the cold on Thursday to prevent a mechanical shovel from encroaching on this wasteland as part of a soil characterization study.
“Even if we are at a point where we cannot roll things back, we can prevent them from moving forward”, launched the To have to Céline Bizon, who has been mobilizing for the protection of this natural environment since 2016, alongside many other residents of the area. Around her, other demonstrators were trying as best they could to warm up around 7:30 a.m., as the sun rose through the Steinberg woods.
Several residents of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve showed up before dawn on this wasteland, which runs along rue Hochelaga, to install various planks of wood and a metal ladder to block access to a mechanical shovel parked in front of this space. green. The city’s environmental department wants to collect soil samples on this site, purchased from Hydro Quebec in October for $7.2 million, to check in particular whether this land is contaminated.
“It is a normal process that is done when buying land,” explained in writing Marikym Gaudreault, press secretary for the office of the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante.
A worrying road project
The City claims to want to protect this land surrounded by a long fence with holes. The demonstrators nevertheless remain concerned about a project to extend Boulevard de l’Assomption, funded by the Government of Quebec, which could ultimately scar the interior of this green space already surrounded by Hydro-Quebec infrastructure and the huge land of the company Ray-Mont Logistiques, nearby. This road project aims in particular to facilitate the transport of trucks entering the Port of Montreal.
“I feel like we’re running away from it right now. If we could get things moving so that the extension of boulevard de l’Assomption does not take place and that there are more protected green spaces in the area, it seems to me that it would be a logical follow-up,” said noted Jasmin Pichette, who arrived on this site at 5:30 a.m. to support the Mobilization 6600 Parc-Nature MHM group, at the origin of this demonstration. The father of two children recalls “that there is already a lot of traffic” in this sector which lacks green spaces and infrastructures intended for pedestrians and cyclists. “Developing boulevards to help the industry seems very anachronistic to me,” he continued.
A position shared by Cassandre Charbonneau-Jobin, who is co-spokesperson for the citizen movement Mobilization 6600 Parc nature MHM. “The mayor said that all decisions must be made taking into account the protection of nature at this time. Here, we have a wooded area. And what is planned, everything indicates that it is the extension of boulevard de l’Assomption, which serves the interests of the Port of Montreal for trucking and the transport of goods. We ask that the Steinberg forest be preserved in its entirety, in its entirety, ”she said Thursday, when met on this site.
“It would be pointless to protect a third of the wooded area if we are to destroy all the rest, ecological connectivity, fauna and flora. The important thing is to preserve the entirety of this environment and even to increase it, ”chained Anaïs Houde, who is also spokesperson for the citizen movement.
Cassandre Charbonneau-Jobin also considers it “ironic” that this project to extend Boulevard de l’Assomption remains in the cards of Quebec and the City of Montreal at the time of the 15e UN conference on biodiversity (COP15) in the city center of the metropolis. “As long as there is no renunciation of this project, the wooded area is in danger. And we are here to defend it, ”she insisted.
The office of Mayor Valérie Plante, for its part, ensures that it has a vision for the development of this sector “which focuses on the protection of biodiversity”. Several “solutions” are being considered to protect, in particular, a wetland in this sector, as well as the Boisé Vimont. “We will seize every opportunity to preserve nature and public access to quality spaces for citizens,” added Marikym Gaudreault.
The Ministère des Transports du Québec had not answered our questions concerning the extension of boulevard de l’Assomption, at the time when these lines were written.