By 2050, Montreal wants to develop a vast network of 184 kilometers of tramway and carry out metro extensions, including that of the blue line to the west. In its draft Urban Planning and Mobility Plan (PUM) unveiled on Tuesday, Valérie Plante’s administration still dreams of the construction of the pink metro line to connect the city center to the northeast of the city.
A kind of instruction manual for planning the metropolis for the next 25 years, the PUM updates the ambitions of the City of Montreal to make the territory more resilient with development focused on sustainable mobility and densification adapted to each sector.
In terms of mobility, the PUM provides for the creation of some 300 kilometers of transport by rapid bus (SRB), tram or metro service. The ambitions are great and could require tens of billions of dollars of investments, admits the City.
The document mentions, in addition to the extension of the blue metro line towards Anjou, its extension to the west, in particular to serve the Loyola campus of Concordia University and the Montreal-West commuter train station. Also included is the extension of the western branch of the orange line with the addition of three stations.
The pink line between the city center and the northeast of the territory promised by Valérie Plante during the 2017 electoral campaign has not been forgotten. “The choice of a diagonal route makes it possible to anticipate very competitive travel times for cars while offering multiple opportunities for networking with components of the existing, existing and planned structuring public transport network,” underlines the document.
Trams in the north and west
Montreal also dreams of a major tram network. The document mentions tram lines in the corridors of Boulevard de l’Acadie, Boulevard Saint-Michel, Rue Hochelaga and in the corridor bringing together Boulevard Saint-Joseph, Boulevard Rosemont and Côte-Sainte-Catherine. For the northern sector, we are talking about a tramway in the Henri-Bourassa and Sauvé-Côte-Vertu corridors. The City is also considering a tramway in the Côte-de-Liesse and Cavendish corridor.
The PUM also provides for urban densification, more intense in major heavy transport routes such as the blue line to Anjou, and more moderate in areas with heritage value.
In terms of housing, the City wants the number of housing units to increase from 913,000 to 1.12 million between 2024 and 2050, with a 20% share of non-market housing, including at least 75% social housing.
In 2050, at least 30% of the public area of streets will be devoted to green infrastructure, active transport and public transport, indicates the PUM.
The City plans to ensure that in just over 25 years, 78% of Montrealers will live within a 15-minute walk of an access point to the major public transportation network, compared to 36% today.
Further details will follow.