......Anyway on to the story:
Cars were cautiously introduced on Mount Royal in the 1930s. Years later, Mayor Jean Drapeau envisaged a network of highways criss-crossing the mountain, a dream that was not realized, though a through roadway was built.
This month, the city will take its first step toward trying to tame the automobile, by making it safer and easier for bicyclists and pedestrians to enjoy Mount Royal - and harder for motorists to use it as a cross-town shortcut.
That's not good enough for some opposition city councillors, who want much more of Mount Royal turned into a no-go zone for cars.
About 10,000 vehicles cross the mountain daily, most of that through traffic that has nothing to do with lookout views or green space.
Remembrance Rd. runs between Côte des Neiges Rd. and the Smith House on Mount Royal. There, Remembrance becomes Camillien Houde Way, which continues to Mount Royal Blvd. in the Outremont borough.
In the coming weeks, the city is to close the southern part of Remembrance (which runs east) to cars. By summer, only cyclists and pedestrians will be able to use the section of southern Remembrance between Beaver Lake and Camillien Houde. The northern portion of Remembrance, now one-way westward for its entire length, will become two-way (one lane in each direction) between Beaver Lake and Camillien Houde.
Between Camillien Houde and Mount Royal Blvd., cyclists will continue to share the road with cars. That strip is to be made safer for cyclists in the coming years, the city says.
The new configuration of Remembrance will "make it easier for users of the mountain to access it, and will reduce the number of cars using the road simply to go from one end of the city to the other," Manon Barbe, the city executive committee member responsible for transportation, said in an interview.
Through traffic will be discouraged by the reduction to one lane in each direction of much of Remembrance. "Drivers behind a bus that has to stop to drop off or pick up passengers will have to wait. They won't be able to pass."
The idea is to encourage motorists to use alternative crosstown routes, like Pine Ave. or Côte Ste. Catherine Rd.
In addition, the city will make it safer for pedestrians by building new crosswalks on Remembrance, Barbe said.
"It's currently asphalt, asphalt, asphalt, and people have to walk on roads and they have to cross with nothing there to make it safe."
The new pedestrian/cyclist path and crosswalks on Remembrance are to cost $5.2 million, part of a $25-million project that includes removal of the 50-year-old interchange at Remembrance and Côte des Neiges. The intersection, due in 2012, is to be rebuilt at ground level, similar to the new one at Park and Pine Aves.
The opposition Projet Montréal party has applauded the partial closing of Remembrance to cars, but it wants the city to go much farther.
Luc Ferrandez of Projet Montréal, mayor of the neighbouring Plateau Mont Royal borough, says closing part of Remembrance will not reduce through traffic, in part because that road and Camillien Houde will remain attractive to motorists, as they form a long stretch of road without street lights in the city centre.
He has said the city should, among other things, consider closing Camillien Houde completely to car traffic and turning the 450-spot parking lot at the Smith House into a garden.
"It's an excellent idea to get cars off Mount Royal and make it a people place rather than a big parking lot," said Alex Norris, a Projet Montréal councillor in the Plateau.
Barbe said closing more of the mountain to cars is unrealistic. "The mountain belongs to all Montrealers," she said. "We want the roads to be shared so the biggest number possible of Montrealers can enjoy this magnificent site."
Car access is needed for tourists, as well as for locals who want to zip up to a lookout to take in the view, she said. "If you're coming from a restaurant, it's nicer and more practical to get to the lookout in your personal car, spend 15 minutes on the mountain and then leave to do something else."
The work on Remembrance is in addition to a $7.5-million, 10-kilometre car-free route for pedestrians and cyclists that the city is building around Mount Royal. Four to five metres wide and incorporating parts of the existing Olmsted Rd., the gravel path is to wind all the way around the mountain and encircle all three Mount Royal peaks, as well as the cemetery grounds.
That project is to be completed over the next two or three summers, the city says.
ariga@thegazette.canwest.com
METROPOLITAN NEWS
For images of the new carless Remembrance Rd., info about the history of cars on Mount Royal and a look at Projet Montréal's proposal
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