Themes, tags, keywords and great projects

Restore to the metro its allure as a collective asset and public space in order to make Montrealers proud of it once again. To this end:

• Regulate in a more restrictive manner the businesses and other commercial endeavours permitted in recent years;
• Decrease the amount of advertising in the metro towards the levels that existed when it was first opened in 1966;
• Restore the metro stations to their original appeal and architectural quality.

Preserve the views of the Mount Royal lookout on the river and also city views on the mountain.

Define and begin the Entrée maritime de Montréal project, affecting 2,500 metres of river shoreline in Montreal (from Bonsecours Street to Cuvillier Street, approximately), the eastern tip of Ile Sainte-Hélène, and the corresponding section of seaway in Longueuil. In total, there are 150 hectares of land for redevelopment. This project will maximize the population's access to the river, concurrently allowing for several thousand new houses, businesses and public facilities. The eastern tip of Ile Sainte- Hélène will be reserved for a prestigious structure, in the manner of the Sydney Opera House in Australia. This project will in no way hinder future development of the Port of Montreal.

Since the New Tramway will be the principle mode of transit service to this new Montreal neighbourhood, the Entrée maritime de Montreal project will put an end to attempts to transform Notre-Dame Street into an urban highway. In its place, Projet Montréal proposes a true urban boulevard.

Erase scars on the urban landscape such as raised or inset highways as well as underused paved lots, making economic gains through the process of transforming them. These operations will be doubly beneficial, diminishing harmful effects and creating space for quality urban development. The following projects are top priority:

• Completely cover the open portion of the Ville-Marie Expressway in the downtown core;
• Partially cover the Décarie Expressway along a stretch of about 30 metres on either side of the various streets that cross it, reserving the space thus created for, among other things, terraces and public markets;
• Demolish the Bonaventure Expressway and redevelop University as a grand boulevard, from where the current highway begins to the Lachine canal.
• Once the New Tramway lines of Parc, Saint-Laurent and Beaubien-Van-Horne are in service, demolish the Rosemont-Van Horne overpass;
• Develop the Pôle Maisonneuve, the area to the north of Pie-IX metro station on the grounds of the Olympic stadium, which is currently underused. The goal is to incite visitors who come for the Biodome, Botanical gardens, Insectarium, future Planetarium and Maisonneuve Park to linger in the neighbourhood and dine there as well. The Pôle Maisonneuve project could include sidewalk cafés, a public market or an extension of Maisonneuve Park south of Sherbrooke Street.

Following the example of Barcelona, Lyon or Chicago, hold an annual competition for public outdoor art in order to erect sculptures or other types of art for all major urban redevelopment projects (Tramway line construction, commercial arteries and pedestrian zones), or in the immediate vicinity of a metro station, or for major projects such as the Entrée maritime de Montréal. This program will be endowed with a yearly budget of $5 million.

Protect Montreal’s architectural, natural and cultural heritage by applying existing legislation and refusing to modify it piecemeal to gratify developers. Take the lead in setting up groups of public and private investors dedicated to the safeguard of our collective heritage (e.g.: the Motherhouse of the Sisters of the Saints-Noms-de-Jésus- et-de-Marie, the philosophy seminary of Saint-Sulpice). Preserve, to public and communal ends, the architectural patrimony owned by the city. Facilitate the purchase, cooperatively or by long-term lease, of live-and-work space for artists and craftspeople, in order to shelter from market speculation those spaces dedicated to cultural production.

Reserve our churches, an invaluable collective heritage, for public, communal, cultural and social uses. Obtain the Government of Quebec’s collaboration to this end.

The notion of what constitutes patrimony is in constant evolution. In the interest of enriching our urban collectivity, enable every cultural community to assume a place in Montreal civic life by enjoying a physical and symbolic presence, through the promotion of public spaces, commercial and service axes, cultural and recreational events with touristic potential and appropriate architectural design. Montreal’s heritage will be enriched in a spirit of openness, collaboration and cultural exchange.

Start preparations to celebrate Montreal’s 375th anniversary in 2017, exactly fifty years after Man and his World. For example, promote exchanges of a historical and cultural nature with the thirty or so North American cities founded by the first citizens of Montreal. Establish a program of public art by artists from Montreal and across Quebec.