Boroughs

Thursday June 3, 2010

By The Projet Montréal Team

The Tremblay administration washes greener than green. However, every time a developer threatens to vanquish the last remaining natural areas on the Island, or to bite off one of its valuable parks, citizens have to come together and fight an epic battle with the hope of being heard. In the Marianopolis case, our voices were heard and we prevailed: no new development shall be allowed. But in the matter of Meadowbrook, Jarry Park and the Anselme-Lavigne Woods, nothing is less certain.  You want to join in on our efforts? Write us!

Condos on the Meadowbrook golf course?

The gorgeous Meadowbrook golf course has been spotted by a real estate developer who wants to build 1,500 residential units on it. On April 22, 2010, Projet Montréal tabled a motion that aimed to protect the site and the brook that runs through it. Union Montréal and Vision Montréal opposed this motion!

See also:A rally to save Meadowbrook attracts 500 in front of City Hall. (article, April 26, 2010)

Two construction projects in Jarry Park

Expansion of the Neighbourhood police station 31

Villeray-St-Michel-Parc Extension Mayoress, Anie Samson of Vision Montréal, and all Union Montréal councillors except one, support the construction of a new building right in Jarry Park that would bundle all of the services provided by the Neighbourhood police. Projet Montréal is opposed to the use of park grounds for the construction or expansion of buildings.

To learn more:

Jarry Park shrunk to expand Police Station 31 June 2, 2010 press release (in French only)

Projet Montréal motion against the use of Jarry Park grounds for the expansion of Police Station 31 June 14, 2010 (in French only)

Projet Montréal Memorandum against the construction of buildings on park grounds and in Park Jarry specifically June 10, 2010

Latest news on the expansion project Friends of Jarry Park website

Expansion of the Uniprix Stadium

The borough administration also supports Tennis Canada’s plans to raise the walls of the Uniprix Stadium from 13 to 22 meters, which is higher than the trees!

An endangered woodland in Pierrefonds

One of the last remaining untamed sites on the island of Montreal is being plundered. The stakes: 5 acres of black maple and other vulnerable species described in the Québec Biodiversity Atlas. Get more information by reading the article Plea for Pierrefonds’s Anselme-Lavigne Woods.

Rebuilding Turcot is not simply about transportation. It is also an urban planning issue, a public health issue, an environmental issue and an economic issue that will affect the lives of Montrealers and their children for the decades to come.

MONTREAL'S PRINCIPLES REGARDING THE NEW TURCOT INTERCHANGE

The following principles for planning a new Turcot interchange were brought forth by the City's April 21st 2010 presentation, "TURCOT : UN PROJET URBAIN DURABLE POUR LE XXIe SIÈCLE. Projet Montréal supports and adheres to the following principles and invites all Montrealers to encourage their elected officials at all governement levels to do the same.

Urban Planning :

• Sustain and consolidate existing housing
• Reinforce urban continuity between neighborhoods by eliminating the shoulders
• Maximize development potential by clearing a maximum of land
• Improve existing landscapes, particularly that of the St. Jacques Escarpement, the Lachine Canal and the Aqueduct
• Create an attractive entrance for the city, one that reflects Montreal's dynamism
• Increase greening of the sector

Transportation :

• Consider and plan for collective transportation as the backbone for development
• Implement collective transportation options as mitigation measures before initiating the road work
• Reduce traffic capacity on the east-west axis and maintain capacity on the north-south axis
• Encourage carpooling
• Diminishgreenhouse gas emissions
• Maintain facilities for transporting goods

Free translation. Source: "TURCOT : UN PROJET URBAIN DURABLE POUR LE XXIe SIÈCLE", April 21, 2010, City of Montréal.

The Ministry of Transport of Quebec (MTQ) did not subscribe to these principles in the elaboration of their plan, and that is why Projet Montréal rejects this plan.

What may seem to be a technical battle among experts is in fact a clash between two radically opposing visions of the very nature of the project, as well as its importance for the future of the city of Montreal and the province of Quebec:

Finally, based on the location and breadth of the works to be implemented, Montreal believes that this represents an exceptional opportunity to initiate the demographic and economic boost so strongly needed by the metropolis of Quebec.

Knowledge is power: learn more

To get up to speed with the events, read the two Walking Turcot Yards blog posts by Neath Turcot (Ken McLaughlin):

• City Proposal A Better Project (April 22, 2010) >
• MTQ Responds Quickly (April 23, 2010) >

To gain a good grasp of the issues, read Pierre Bouchard's six blog entries on the subject (in French only):

• Échangeur Turcot: pour se faire une idée >
• Échangeur Turcot: le projet de la Ville de Montréal >
• Échangeur Turcot: un projet urbain ou de transport ? >
• Échangeur Turcot: deux visions, deux séries d'arguments >
• Échangeur Turcot: peut-on réduire la motorisation en réduisant le nombre de voies? >
• Échangeur Turcot: à quand une analyse des deux projets? >

To take a step back from Ministre Boulet's "6 B$" fear campaign, read Marie-Claude Lortie's article, which pertains to the MTQ's  financial argument against the City's suggested plan. La Presse, April 23, 2010 (in French only): L'inquiétant réflexe du bon marché >

To gain insight on the MTQ's attitude and general approach, read the blog post by Luc Ferrandez, mayor of Plateau-Mont-Royal (in French only): Turcot: same old, same old >

Bergeron Speaks in Favour of Green Space While Tremblay is Mum

Article by John Symon

Some 500 citizens rallied to preserve Meadowbrook as green space at the April 19 Montreal City Hall meeting. Environmentalists fear that the 57 hectare Meadowbrook Golf Course has already been approved for a residential development of 1,500 units in a back room deal. The rumoured residential project is in Lachine, but the site would presumably be accessed via Cote St Luc Road. Three rented buses filled with protesters left from Cote St Luc and Montreal West to attend the rally.

Richard Bergeron, who sits on Montreal’s executive committee where he is responsible for urban planning, spoke about Meadowbrook during the council meeting. He conceded that the residential project is well planned, but added it was a ‘good project in the wrong place,’ meaning that it should be built elsewhere, and that Meadowbrook be saved.  Bergeron, however, leads the opposition Projet Montreal party and it is unclear if Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay shares Bergeron’s opinions here. Tremblay has so far remained tight-lipped on the issue that could see a $500 million development proceeding on the golf course.
NDG councillor Peter McQueen, also of the Projet Montreal opposition party, was to have read a motion declaring that the site be designated as green space, but the meeting ran overtime. The citizens’ question period alone lasted almost two hours. Much of the agenda, including the Meadowbrook item, was postponed until another meeting of council scheduled for Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, the Friends of Meadowbrook received a letter of support from the David Suzuki Foundation. That letter, dated April 15, 2010, calls on Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay to act immediately to preserve the natural area: “We implore you to preserve all of Meadowbrook as a nature park in perpetuity for the benefit of all Montrealers and their descendents. Please do not permit its destruction for short-term private gain.”

We spoke to Cote St Luc councillor Dida Berku who was very critical of Lachine Mayor Claude Dauphin on this issue. She spoke not only of protecting trees, but also of proper planning and ensuring that houses are not built in dangerous places. The West End Times then contacted Dauphin who assured us that there have been no plans approved by Lachine to develop Meadowbrook, and that the land has been zoned residential since 1997.

More information available at www.sosmeadowbrook.org