Themes, tags, keywords and great projects

Offer residential areas that are quiet, built on a human scale, safe, attractive, connected to public transit and that allow for pedestrian transit, reducing the role of the automobile. In order to do this, create neighbourhoods around metro stations, commuter train stations, and New Tramway lines by prioritizing the development of vacant or underused land located around these transit stations. The following are some of the qualities to aim for in residential areas:

• a sufficient quantity of green space integrated with building projects, like green laneways landscaped for and by residents;
• new parks and playgrounds, especially in central neighbourhoods where they are sorely lacking;
• residential buildings on a human scale whose height and size respect the architectural character of the neighbourhood, the wishes of the borough, and the expectations of the population;
• commercial areas with a diverse range of services accessible by foot and located close to public transit;
• safe roads where the use of cars is discouraged though traffic calming measures and a reduction of parking spaces available.

Put in place municipal regulation promoting inclusion by requiring that private developers dedicate at least 25% of their projects to social or affordable housing. Developers who would rather not meet this obligation could instead pay the SAHF $25,000 for every missing social or affordable housing unit.

Put in place a new type of zoning that would prohibit businesses serving fast-food. This new type of zoning could be used selectively around schools, for example. This commitment requires the consent of the Government of Quebec.

Adopt a municipal by-law that permits the expropriation of buildings that have been abandoned (barricaded) for over a year, or have undergone major renovations at the cost of the City that were not reimbursed by the owner.

Redevelop commercial streets to make them more pleasant and increase the public space dedicated to pedestrians. Define and put in place a plan of “pedestrianization” – complete or partial, seasonal or year-round – of certain streets and public places in Montreal. This commitment would promote the vitality and conviviality of commercial arteries and increase the safety of pedestrians through a variety of specific measures including: widening sidewalks, making intersections safer, creating space for sidewalk terrasses and for display and poster stands, installing retractable bollards to allow the temporary closing of streets (e.g. on summer weekends or during special events). The top four candidates for pedestrian redevelopment are:

• Ste-Catherine Street between Guy and Papineau;
• McGill College Avenue from Place Ville-Marie to Sherbrooke Street;
• Saint-Paul Street;
• Mont-Royal Avenue, between Parc and Frontenac.

Access for emergency vehicles (fire, police and ambulance), commercial deliveries and private vehicles belonging to residents of these streets would be established in consultation with local residents and businesses.

Create green neighbourhoods free of through traffic and surface parking, connected by green networks, streets (including commercial arteries) reserved for pedestrians, bikes and public transit.

Green neighbourhoods are a simple yet effective way of ridding residential areas of commuter through traffic. The aim is to return the public space to the neighbourhoods’ residents and, by encouraging active transportation (on foot or by bicycle) to give new life to areas otherwise plagued by through traffic. A variety of measures can be used to create a green neighbourhood, including:

• Physical impediments such as speed bumps, chicanes, wider sidewalks and narrower roadways, pedestrian crossings, raised intersections and retractable bollards activated by magnetic cards or transponders;
• Changing the direction of one-way streets, often for only a block or two;
• Road surface, signage, and street equipment (benches, garbage cans etc.) designed to alert automobile drivers to the fact that they are in a “green neighbourhood”;
• More pedestrian areas;
• Increased vegetation (trees and in planters);
• A speed limit of 30 km/h, even 15 km/h in certain areas.

The green network is a collection of streets reserved for pedestrians, cyclists and rollerbladers. These streets cross each borough and allow users to go from one borough to another – and from one end of the city to the other – safely. Within a neighbourhood the green network connect schools, parks and libraries, allowing users, especially children, to discover the treasures of Montreal in all safety.

Most of Montreal’s major streets have been transformed into highways, even urban expressways, devoted exclusively to the smooth flow of automobiles. This has led to a major decrease in the room devoted to other forms of transportation. It is necessary to reduce the road surface currently devoted to cars on these streets – thereby limiting their speed – and build dedicated bus and tram routes, as well as bike and rollerblade lanes in order to transform them into true urban boulevards.

Redevelop open, off-street parking lots to create more residential housing, parks and green spaces and other urban installations. Give priority to redeveloping parking lots in the downtown and older areas of the city whose full potential is undermined by this under-used land.

Maintain the supply of community gardens in lower-income neighbourhoods. Promote urban agriculture by offering support to people wishing to practice it, and favour converting to this use under-utilized spaces by entering into agreements with major property owners.

In the spirit of the Cadre d'aménagement 2001-2021, concentrate urban development around heavy (metro and commuter trains) and medium-heavy (New Tramway and other) modes of public transit. For example, Projet Montréal is against having a casino or other gaming facility on the site of the current Blue Bonnets raceway. As the site is served by the Namur metro station, it is an ideal site for a new residential neighbourhood and must not be wasted.

Quickly deliver on major projects around sites already served by public transit but which are still languishing at the initial planning stage, such as Griffintown, the postal sorting station, the CN workshops in Pointe-Saint-Charles, the Radio-Canada site, the du Havre sector, Viger station, Porte Sainte-Marie, and the Outremont yards. Prepare for the redevelopment of the Royal Victoria and Hôtel-Dieu hospitals. These projects have the combined capacity to accommodate 50,000 households, or between 100,000 and 125,000 inhabitants.

Those projects for which concrete proposals have already been made should be reviewed in order to reduce the number of parking spaces provided and to reinforce the relationship with active transit and public transit. Technical support and financial incentives will be offered to promoters to accelerate the realization of these projects in this spirit and to ensure that they are financially accessible, notably to families buying property for the first time.

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.

Ask the Québec government to implement programs or provide tools to complement the ClimatSol program in order to respond more proactively to the problem of contaminated land. All around Montreal, a large amount of land is available, but poor soil quality renders it unattractive. This represents enormous potential for development that is stymied by the fact that substantial investments are required for decontamination, making it difficult to get projects started.

Declare a moratorium on the construction of large scale retail outlets on the island of Montréal. In the short term, two projects in particular are targeted:

• The construction of a Wal-Mart and other similar outlets in the Saint-Michel quarry. Instead, priority will be given to commercial development along Saint- Michel Boulevard and Jarry Street.
• The commercial part of the project currently proposed for the Griffintown neighbourhood, which threatens the historical commercial character of Ste- Catherine 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.

Enhance Montreal’s status as a UNESCO-designated City of Design by hosting an important biennial international conference on architecture and urban design. Provide a showcase for research and expertise on the redevelopment of cities in accordance with twenty-first century priorities. Position Montreal at the North American vanguard of architecture, urban and territorial planning and design.

Ensure that the City has enough inspectors to evaluate, on site and in real time, the quality of work carried out or services rendered by private companies. The inspectors shall have permanent positions and shall be persons experienced in public works and municipal services.

Information collected will be centralized in a file for each company, to be known as a performance file. Over time, these files will permit the City to distinguish clearly between responsible companies and those whose work is inadequate.

Establish a municipal corporation, the Montreal Development Corporation, to be put in charge of all Montreal urban development projects. The agency will use the services of City employees who are specialists in key fields, and who will work in close cooperation with one another so as to carry out the broad vision laid out by the administration and by city council. To ensure that each project is in keeping with this broad vision, and that projects are properly coordinated, every investment of $5 million or more proposed by the central city, a borough or a city-owned corporation will have to either be supervised or carried out by the agency.

The Montreal Development Corporation will be put under the direct responsibility of the mayor of Montreal. It will operate in a manner that respects the directives issued by city council and the mayor's office. It should be emphasized that the fact that these projects are carried out or supervised by the agency does not in any way change rules concerning public consultation.

Replace business terminology with names and terms better suited to public administration and public service. Thus, the city's “Department of Human Capital” will be renamed the “Personnel Department.” Likewise, the Montreal Transit Corporation will stop calling those who use its services “customers” and will revert back to the classic term “users.” All documentation of the City of Montreal and its entities will be reviewed and corrected to reflect this approach.