Ste-Catherine Street

CBC has a new piece Sunday evening about the roadwork on Ste-Catherine Street but it’s mostly a summary, vague on details and it doesn’t query the supposed necessity to revitalize the street. Yet every time I’ve been along the street over the last year it’s been crowded and lively, and the revival of the Atwater-Guy segment, moribund for so long, is striking. I don’t think the street needs gimmicks foisted on it now.

One thing I saw in an article, but can’t find again, was praise for the ideal of getting rid of sidewalks as such and having the whole street on one level. This is what they did to Place d’Armes and what goes on behind Place des Arts now, where it’s virtually impossible to discern the boundaries between pedestrian, cyclist and motorist zones. It’s the kind of idea dreamed up by design groups that never actually walk around a city.