By: Leanne Franson

Leanne Franson — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 09:01:22 +0000

I agree with Keith. The slow moving traffic means it is livable. You can wave to people going by, who are checking out the people walking. I TOTALLY agree with Keith’s description. And that “Pedestrian streets are touristy toys” … I have lived around the corner (on De Bullion) from Prince Arthur strip, and been bitched at by groups of people watching street performers, for walking through with a backpack or my bike, as I was trying to get home after work with groceries. When I am on Ste Catherine’s street where you point out, I am buying a tv at Future shop, Very large art supplies (like multiple sheets of 30×40″ illustration board, and blocs of watercolor paper) for my self-employed illustration business, dropping off artwork at the Illustration Quebec office, and other items for which frankly, I need a car, not to walk along grassy boulevards with wandering tourists. And yes, I may only drive two or four blocks on Ste Catherine (from Rene Levesque or De Maisonneuve, used as arteries to actually get to and fro to the point on Ste Catherine I wish), but I still want to drive on Ste Catherine for these things.

Every place in Mtl that they turn into a “no car” zone just congests other arteries (which are ALL narrow in Mtl), and increases the pollution as people go round and round looking for parking, or are rerouted in heavy traffic (all siphoned due to detours) going 6x the necessary distance from point A to point B on one way streets, narrowed to “calm the traffic”.

And in case you think I am a crazy biased suburban car lover, in fact I have never owned a car in Montreal, have been using my bike (4 seasons) as transportation since 1982, member of communauto since 2001, lived exclusively in the downtown/plateau areas since 1983: rue MacKay, de Bullion, corner Square Victoria/St Jacques, Marquette, Messier and now Parthenais. As a bike driver and resident, this is becoming a congested touristy city, often taking 20 mins of idling to drive 6 blocks.

By: Keith Campbell

Keith Campbell — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:50:08 +0000

Love your blog. I learn a lot from it as exiled Montrealer.
I’m very much be against pedestrianizing Ste Catherine for a variety of reasons.

1) I don’t think the comparison to NYC pedestrianization is apt – that’s a mega urban place that needs rest from the craziness. Montreal only has a few areas with that NYC style intensity and Ste Catherine is one of them, and the slow moving traffic adds to that atmosphere rather than detracts from it. The same thing applies to the very slow crawl up the St Laurent strip. My favorite memories of montreal are on both streets on Saturday nights with horns honking and the big crush of machines and people, whether after hockey games or during sexy summer afternoons.

2) slow moving traffic vs no cars is a bit of a false choice. nobody’s suggesting Ste Catherine should be a fast moving artery when Rene Levesque is nearby.

3) Ste Catherine’s the great retail street. In another echo of NYC, imagine coming out of a store laden with shopping bags and not being able to hail a cab in the winter.

Pedestrian streets are touristy toys I feel, like the Prince Arthur restaurant strip

Comments on: Every Day Should Be Car-Free Day

By: Leanne Franson

By: Keith Campbell