Waterfront projects and responses
The Gazette’s Michelle Lalonde looks at three projects the city is working on to give Montrealers better access to the river. Her analysis of the Lachine marina is worth reading, as it clarifies how much the city has already spent to maintain it for a relatively small number of boat owners, and how much more needs to be invested. The decision that if millions are to be spent it should be invested in a project to benefit a wider public seems obvious, but the boat owners are going to court in an attempt to stop the conversion.
Faiz imam 11:44 on 2020-10-10 Permalink
Speaking of improving access to the river, another project that we have heard whispers about for years which i want an update about is the next phase of the Autoroute bonaventure.
There have been discussions about re configuring the highway into a avenue, or even removing it and enlarging Rue Marc Cantin. The idea would be to turn the waterfront there into a brand new park, which would be much more accessible to a lot of Montrealers. Especially if they go through with adding a REM station after the soil remediation of the technopark is complete and new projects get built there.
DeWolf 11:48 on 2020-10-10 Permalink
I went for a bike ride up to the Île de la Visitation a couple of weeks ago and it occurred to me that there are plenty of spots along the Back River that would be ideal for swimming. In fact there were some popular beaches along it in the past, but they’ve all disappeared. I wonder why there isn’t more discussion of reopening access. Is the water quality poor? Would it disturb nearby residents?
Ian 14:57 on 2020-10-13 Permalink
I suspect it’s more that if there was swimming allowed they would need to provide beach maintenance and lifeguards or risk lawsuits. We got bike paths instead, it’s a limited budget.