Duluth is already pedestrianized and it’s a breath of fresh air. As I say every year, that’s a street that really ought to be car-free year-round. At the very least, change the direction of traffic at Laval so it no longer serves as a shortcut between St-Laurent and St-Denis.
I’m envious. I lived a step away from Duluth for a long time and pedestrianization would’ve been nice.
I recall reading that there was a plan at one point to make the street a pedestrian mall all the way from Jeanne‑Mance park to Lafontaine park, which is why part of it is paved in driveway blocks and not ordinary paving.
@Kate I think that is still very much the plan. The city held consultations on a new “plan directeur” for JMP and the “cote placide” of Mount Royal (essentially where the toboggan run is) in 2018 and 2019 – after redesigning the playground, rebuilding the tennis court, and dismantling one of the softball fields. I guess once the powers that achieved their personal objectives they decided to consult the public.
The final consultation report was only issued in March 2023 – obviously the pandemic caused all kinds of municipal works to be delayed, but a five-year consultation windows seems totally bonkers. The final report made a bunch of recommendations, including the building of a dog park, the pedestrianization of Duluth all the way to Lafontaine Park, etc. At the time, the city said most of these things were 5-10 years away. God only knows why this stuff takes so long. Even when there is political will to do something, the turnaround time is ridiculous.
For example, the borough agreed to install a temporary dog park until the permanent one is built; the commitment was made last December with language indicating the temporary fenced-in park would be built in 2024; this spring, Alex Norris informed the community of dog owners (who have been able to use the softball field during the winter the last couple of years) that the temporary dog park would be designed this year and if all goes well would be built in 2025. Even a temporary, interim, nothing-fancy, fenced in area takes minimum two years to build. Alternate suggestions from the community (e.g., keep the hockey rink boards up and use that as a temporary dog park) were, as expected, summarily dismissed. Always better to do nothing than something imperfect!
Generally speaking I can understand how infrastructure projects really do require lots and lots of time and are not straightforward – it’s not like the city officials enjoy ripping open our streets over and over again. I get that the Pie-IX bus lane will wind up taking a generation to get built. But the number of dogs that will be born after the JMP consultation began and will die naturally before the dog park is built is nuts.
DeWolf 12:18 on 2024-05-12 Permalink
Duluth is already pedestrianized and it’s a breath of fresh air. As I say every year, that’s a street that really ought to be car-free year-round. At the very least, change the direction of traffic at Laval so it no longer serves as a shortcut between St-Laurent and St-Denis.
Kate 14:51 on 2024-05-13 Permalink
I’m envious. I lived a step away from Duluth for a long time and pedestrianization would’ve been nice.
I recall reading that there was a plan at one point to make the street a pedestrian mall all the way from Jeanne‑Mance park to Lafontaine park, which is why part of it is paved in driveway blocks and not ordinary paving.
Joey 11:51 on 2024-05-14 Permalink
@Kate I think that is still very much the plan. The city held consultations on a new “plan directeur” for JMP and the “cote placide” of Mount Royal (essentially where the toboggan run is) in 2018 and 2019 – after redesigning the playground, rebuilding the tennis court, and dismantling one of the softball fields. I guess once the powers that achieved their personal objectives they decided to consult the public.
The final consultation report was only issued in March 2023 – obviously the pandemic caused all kinds of municipal works to be delayed, but a five-year consultation windows seems totally bonkers. The final report made a bunch of recommendations, including the building of a dog park, the pedestrianization of Duluth all the way to Lafontaine Park, etc. At the time, the city said most of these things were 5-10 years away. God only knows why this stuff takes so long. Even when there is political will to do something, the turnaround time is ridiculous.
For example, the borough agreed to install a temporary dog park until the permanent one is built; the commitment was made last December with language indicating the temporary fenced-in park would be built in 2024; this spring, Alex Norris informed the community of dog owners (who have been able to use the softball field during the winter the last couple of years) that the temporary dog park would be designed this year and if all goes well would be built in 2025. Even a temporary, interim, nothing-fancy, fenced in area takes minimum two years to build. Alternate suggestions from the community (e.g., keep the hockey rink boards up and use that as a temporary dog park) were, as expected, summarily dismissed. Always better to do nothing than something imperfect!
Generally speaking I can understand how infrastructure projects really do require lots and lots of time and are not straightforward – it’s not like the city officials enjoy ripping open our streets over and over again. I get that the Pie-IX bus lane will wind up taking a generation to get built. But the number of dogs that will be born after the JMP consultation began and will die naturally before the dog park is built is nuts.
Kate 10:38 on 2024-06-08 Permalink
Joey, I meant to thank you for your contribution to this thread. Now I’m late.