Montreal City Weblog

Kate 21:00 on 2022-02-03 Permalink Reply  

• GC 21:51 on 2022-02-03 Permalink

  Oh, man. I went by there this evening. (Not crossing the tracks, but just walking along the fence on the south side.) I wondered why there was fresh police tape across the hole in the fence. I thought the police had kind of just given up because someone eventually cuts a new hole in the fences.

• walkerp 00:13 on 2022-02-04 Permalink

  Whoah!
  That’s sad, though I have to wonder if she was intoxicated (still sad). People have been crossing there for years since CP Rail stopped their aggressive enforcement. Will this bring it back?
  Ideally, the city and CP Rail build a proper overpass, but my understanding is that CP Rail has resisted this.

• SMD 09:42 on 2022-02-04 Permalink

  Walkerp, CP has no problem with overpasses or underpasses (as long as they don’t have to pay for them and they can keep running trains while they are being built). But they will fight to the death against any new level crossings, which is what the City has been requesting for almost a decade now.

• walkerp 10:34 on 2022-02-04 Permalink

  Ah, thanks for that clarification, SMD. I can see their argument. They should then pony up for a good chunk of an overpass, then, since they are squatting on prime city real estate. At least let’s start some negotiations.

• James 17:29 on 2022-02-04 Permalink

  Just to add what SMD already said and who also reported the details back in December 2021:
  Henri-Julien and Saint-Dominique crossings: crossings must be grade seperated and be fully paid by the city.
  Ogilvy, Henri-Bourassa and de l’Épée crossings: at-grade crossings allowed but also to be fully paid by the city.
  Details: https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/ruling/34-r-2019

• Kate 11:15 on 2022-02-06 Permalink

  Thank you, James.

• GC 13:04 on 2022-02-06 Permalink

  I think they could put an elevated crossing there and someone would still cut a hole in the fence. It’s not that far to walk to St-Denis or St-Laurent and go over/under the tracks in a safe manner, but people go through the fence because they want the shortest route possible. I doubt a lot of them would want to bother climbing stairs, either.

• walkerp 15:29 on 2022-02-06 Permalink

  While you may be right about some holes still being cut, it is a huge pain in the ass to have to walk over to St-Laurent. You are forced to cut back to Bernard on the south side and then forced to go way past the running trail on the north side. It adds another 20 minutes at least for me to get to Home Hardware when I can get directly there by cutting across the tracks.

  On a bike it is a different story and the proper bike path has made a huge difference. I almost always take that rather than cutting across the tracks.

  Designing the routes for the way people want to use them does work.

• GC 19:27 on 2022-02-06 Permalink

  Yeah, I get that. Personally, I live closer to Saint-Denis so it’s not going out of my way to go under the tracks on St-Denis, even if I want to head to Home Depot or get on the Reseau-Vert or something. In the interests of full disclosure, however, I will admit I’ve scampered through that hole in the fence a few times, just for a change of scenery. I wouldn’t ever damage the fence myself, but when there’s already a hole… I also think the the Van Horne over pass is not very inviting as a pedestrian, so I don’t blame anyone for wanting to walk just about any other way than over that.

• Kate 19:56 on 2022-02-06 Permalink

  GC, the viaduct isn’t inviting at all. The only good thing about it is the view.