The east of Montreal is a vast territory, a patchwork of diverse realities: land of old refineries to be decontaminated, brownfields, vulnerable neighborhoods, an Olympic village, green spaces, the banks of the Saint-Laurent… The challenges are many.
It is no coincidence that this portion of the island of Montreal has been the subject of several promises since the start of the mayoral campaign. Denis Coderre dreams of making it the “new Silicon Valley”, Valérie Plante speaks of the “pivot of the new economy”. Formulas that strike the imagination …
The development of the East also has the potential to respond to several burning issues: offering housing on the island, attracting technological innovation centers, enhancing large green spaces, improving access to the river, etc. no lack of ideas and on the ground, all socio-economic players are mobilized and inflated to the block. They are not the only ones dreaming.
In his book Heading for a winning Quebec: the Saint-Laurent project, published in 2013, long before he became Prime Minister, François Legault referred to this Montreal El Dorado. He wrote: “I have a dream, for the east of the city, of the development of a new urban space made up of innovative buildings and beautiful architecture, with green spaces, parks and cycle paths. I would see it as an ideal place to create an innovation zone capable of hosting cutting-edge industries […] ”
But, because there is a but, this development cannot be done without a truly structuring public transport project. Objective: to develop, as we have said, but also to open up neighborhoods and allow residents of the East to move around the Island to study, work, have fun …
In jest, it is said that a student from Pointe-aux-Trembles takes less time to get to the University of Trois-Rivières than to that of Montreal. It is almost absurd.
Residents of the East are patient. For 15 years, they have been dangled with a fast bus service on Pie-IX (it is coming), the extension of the blue line (we have been talking about it for more than 20 years) and a possible tram on rue Notre. -Lady (the idea has since been discarded). But today, everyone only has it for the Eastern REM, a project over which those primarily concerned do not have much control.
Was this the best choice? It is far from certain. Critics are numerous and not only for the architectural aspect of the future REM or for its cost. Behind the scenes, we agree that we have put the rails before the horse. Despite this, on the ground, most of the actors seem to have rallied to the idea because for once, this is a project that has a chance of succeeding.
However, a project of this scope, with all its impacts, must be thought out and planned upstream. A development and planning plan is what makes the difference between a neighborhood that is growing badly – think of Griffintown – and a neighborhood that has been thought through – think of Technopôle Angus.
If we already had a real plan for the East, we might not have watched helplessly the sale of part of Shell’s former land to the giant Amazon, which plans to build a huge warehouse – unattractive jobs and increased truck traffic – and 1,100 parking spaces.
If we already had a plan for the East, we might not have let Ray-Mont Logistiques plan the opening of a transshipment center a few meters from a housing coop.
This is the challenge that awaits the next mayor.
The East is a beautiful puzzle that must be developed with skill. We do not work in the same way on a brownfield site as in a neighborhood inhabited by humans. And for that, you need a precise vision of what you want to do.
In his book, François Legault, enthusiastic, cited, as an example, the 22 @ district in Barcelona which inspired at the time, and with more or less success, the promoters of the Innovation district, around the ETS, in Griffintown. The district of Poblenou, described as “a field of industrial ruins”, has been transformed into a real sector of technological innovation where there are also residential areas, green spaces, services and a concern for the preservation of heritage. However, for such visions to materialize, there must be human intervention, planned urban development, insists Mr. Legault in his book. He is absolutely right.
We hear the impatience of the people of the East who have every reason to pawp. They have the impression of having been neglected for too long, that their turn has finally come. We understand them.
But this part of the island of Montreal has the right to a development worthy of the XXIe century. Even if it means slowing down the ardor of CDPQ Infra and Quebec to take the time to design a development that will hold up. So that one day, the future prime minister of another country would write in a book: “I went to Montreal, I saw what they had done with the east of the city, and it is a model we should be inspired by. ”
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