Who will adopt the orphan streets of Quebec? The question has reached the same dead end for more than 20 years. However, the status quo could soon come to a rapid end when the City promises to clarify “its position on the management of orphan alleys over the coming weeks”. For the moment, Quebec favors the control of these alleys by the population which borders them, an option which is not unanimous.
By opting for this solution, the City would save, according to a committee, 2.8 million initially, then approximately 2 million dollars annually in recurring maintenance and repair costs of all kinds. Caution is necessary, however, warns a report: “many unforeseen events could arise and generate additional costs. »
Bruno Marchand’s administration ordered an inventory in the spring of 2022 about the so-called ownerless alleys in the capital. These belong by default to Revenu Québec and have been floating in a legal vacuum since the bankruptcy of real estate companies like the Quebec Land Company, the same one which designed, at the beginning of the 20the century, the map of Limoilou with its American-style grid and its maze of streets.
The ambiguity of their status complicates initiatives to revitalize the streets, at a time when the trend is towards the development of green and community living environments in these concrete passages.
The exact number of alleys in the capital remained unknown until now. The committee responsible for the report clarified this first mystery: there are 307 alleys in the territory of Quebec, 55% of which are concentrated in the districts of Vieux-Limoilou and Lairets. Of this total, 212 are ownerless and, of these, 129 allow automobile traffic.
The committee’s financial analysis is based on the rehabilitation of the latter and explores two scenarios: the acquisition of the 129 alleys by the City or by the population which borders them. This last option proves to be the most advantageous for public funds, concludes the committee, which calculates that the cost of acquiring, upgrading and maintaining a single alley is $60,500 in citizen hands. , but at $98,300 when under the responsibility of the municipality – a difference of 61% largely due to the municipal labor required, which is greater within the City.
The cost of municipalization
The committee postulates that only the acquisition of the 129 alleys by the City would cost it $1.2 million, or $800,000 more than a purchase by the local population. Individually, the difference is marked: an alley would cost $9,800 to acquire by the municipality compared to $3,590 in the case of acquisition by citizens.
Note that Revenu Québec is not being asked to get rid of these alleys and says it is ready to sell them for a symbolic $1. “The costs anticipated by this phase of the process,” explains the report, “result almost entirely from the use of labor [de la] City “.
An upgrade of the alleys would be necessary to make them more user-friendly and safe. Once again, the City would spend much less by supporting citizens in this process than by carrying it out itself.
A restoration carried out entirely by the City, the report calculates, would cost 9.3 million in public funds. “In return, stipulates the committee, an upgrade by local citizens via human resources support [de la] City and through the subsidy programs currently offered […] could allow the City to avoid nearly two million dollars in overall costs. »
The report estimates that the various subsidies currently available could cover up to 80% of the costs of upgrading the alleys by the local population. The third and final phase, that of maintenance, which includes snow removal and plant maintenance, would not cost the City anything if the neighboring owners took care of it themselves. In recurring costs, the capital would save some two million dollars per year, according to the committee.
A hybrid solution to explore
Even if the involvement of the population in the acquisition, upgrading and maintenance of alleys remains “the most economically advantageous option”, concludes the report, their municipalization, although “more expensive overall […] could enable more structured and uniform upgrade work to be carried out. »
The best option, the committee concludes, “could be a hybrid solution. »
The document recommends that the City “direct citizens towards the acquisition of alleys” by emphasizing the “very significant costs” of their municipalization and the essentially private nature of these places of passage. The capital should play the role of “facilitator and matchmaker” by supporting the population in the acquisition and upgrading of alleys, by enhancing subsidy programs in anticipation of greater demand and by providing for a period of transition from “three to five years”.
The committee recommends that the alleys with automobile traffic become a single lot, acquired jointly by a citizen group made up of neighboring owners. As for the alleys transformed into a car-free environment, the committee suggests subdividing them into lots so that each resident owns a part of them.
The danger of privatization
The Vieux-Limoilou neighborhood council, in a document submitted last week, notes several pitfalls in the report’s conclusions. “The feedback we have is that citizens who wish to keep these living environments active are not ready to make the investment in time, energy and additional efforts to put forward , use and make profitable the option put on the table,” explains Raymond Poirier, president of the neighborhood council.
Furthermore, he adds, the privatization of ownerless alleys invites their fragmentation and opens the door to the gradual disappearance of this collective good. In the eyes of the neighborhood council, entrusting the alleys to a social utility trust would “respond to a deep desire for common ownership and collective governance. » The alleys would thus belong to the trust — they would have no particular owner, but would become the property of the entire community.
“There is, on the one hand, the notion of individual interest and the ability of citizens to provide a living environment like that, up to what the City asked of them,” explains Mr. Poirier. At the same time, there is also the collective interest in guaranteeing that in five, 10 or 25 years, there will still be alleys in Limoilou. »