Montreal 2032
12 predictions for your city on its two hundredth birthday
by Justin GiovannettiGinger Coons
GRAPHIC Ginger Coons
Map of Montreal with water transit system and congestion charge zone.
GRAPHIC Ginger Coons
Diagram of St. Catherine street.
GRAPHIC Ginger Coons
This commentary is a work of opinion, not fiction. There will be no predictions of futuristic sidewalk scenes or outlandish fashion. However, what this article does intend to do is provide a snapshot of what is possible in 2032, as Montreal enters the fiftieth year of the Information Revolution.
The world of 2032 will have seen the forward march of technology continue, leaving an indelible mark on mankind and our collective cityscape. To match this progress, the heavy cost of technological growth must be weighed against the environment as the era of unlimited resources and conspicuous consumption comes to an end.
Sustainability and balance will become the leading dogmas of this new age.
As a symbol of this profound shift in thinking, automobiles will no longer be seen as a sign of the future. Transit systems will be designed to balance personal motor vehicles, public transit, cycling and walking.
Balance will also be restored to the food supply as local production is not only encouraged, but mandated by law.
The investment and legislation necessary to reinforce this change in thinking may appear impossible in our current laissez faire atmosphere, but increased government intervention in all aspects of urban life is not only sensible, it is necessary.
Here are 12 predictions for a healthy city, a healthy economy and a healthy population in 2032 Montreal.
Build a metro that serves the entire island of Montreal
As the centerpiece of Montreal’s transit system, the metro will grow to better serve the entire island of Montreal. This will require a large investment by the provincial and municipal governments, but the heavy price will be justified by the environmental and social impact of having an island tied together by a fast and cheap public transit option.
The Green Line
One of the metro’s longest lines, the Green Line will undergo the least expansion. Three additional stations will be built north of the current terminus at Honoré-Beaugrand, expanding the line’s reach to Montreal East.
In the southwest, four stations will be built past Angrignon, providing better service for LaSalle. The line will end by linking with the Blue Line at a new terminus to be built at the Montreal Ouest AMT station.
Orange Line
The site of recent work, the Orange Line’s proposed expansion, looping the line through Laval will be finished with the addition of four stations. Two of those stations will be on the island of Montreal.
Blue Line
The most disappointing expansion project in the metro’s history, the Blue Line will be made relevant with large expansions towards the east and west. Eight stations will be added in the East, linking the Metro with the metropolitan highway, St-Leonard and Montreal North before ending near College Marie-Victorin.
In the west, the Blue Line will expand into Hampstead, Cote Saint-Luc and NDG with five stations, including one at Loyola. The line will end at a terminus in Montreal Ouest linking the Blue and Green lines with the new Red Line.
Yellow Line
The shortest line in the system, three stations will be added to improve service to South shore communities.
White Line
Part of the original planning of the metro, the White Line was postponed indefinitely when Montreal won the 1967 Expo and the transit corporation’s focus was shifted to the Yellow Line.
The new White Line would leave from Bonaventure station on the Orange Line, head north linking with Peel station, and continue with a station at the northern end of McGill campus—near the end of McTavish street—and a station at the top of Mount Royal, increasing accessibility to Montreal’s highest park. The line would end at Édouard-Montpetit station on the Blue Line.
Red Line
The central focus of the 2032 expansion plan, the Red Line, would provide a new public transit backbone for the West Island. A 12-station line stretching from the Montreal Ouest terminus to the Fairview shopping centre in Pointe-Claire, the Red Line would provide direct access to the terminal at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.
The Red Line would be a huge upgrade for transit service in the West Island, providing focal points along which bus lines could be organized. The cities of Lachine, Dorval and Pointe-Claire would be served for the first time by the metro. If the service proved to be popular, a possible parallel line on the northern end of the island would be a future expansion possibility.
Make half of Montreal’s bridges green
The island of Montreal currently has 15 bridges connecting it to off-island suburbs. To encourage the adoption of green technology—hybrid or electric cars—and to help non-motorized transportation get off the island of Montreal, half of the island’s bridges will be restricted to pedestrians, cyclists, emergency vehicles and hybrid or electric vehicles equipped with electronic tags.
Ste-Catherine street to become a tram street
To encourage the pedestrianization of downtown Montreal, Ste-Catherine Street will be off-limits to all motorized vehicles. The street will be tramway-dedicated, with wide sidewalks and ample room for cyclists.
Become vegetable self-sufficient
The city of Montreal will encourage the gardening of local varieties of vegetables to achieve a level of self-sufficiency. From east to west, lawns will be made useful again as gardens are planted. Downtown Montreal will see the introduction of collective gardens and legacy fruits like the Montreal Melon which will be grown on the slopes of Mount Royal, as they were in the late 1800s.
By law, 90 per cent of grocery stores’ produce will need to be local.
Regionalize the transit system
A new Société de transport du Quebec will manage buses, metros and trains operating in all cities south of Quebec City. The Société de transport de Montréal will be retained as a department within this centralized public transit system. This new system will increase coverage, quality and interoperability as fares, transit cards and schedules are harmonized.
By 2032 someone should be able to board a bus in Shawinigan, transfer to a fast intercity train, transfer to the metro in Montreal and walk to school at Concordia. All within 45 minutes, using the same transit card and paying only once.
Municipal Internet coverage
With Internet enshrined as a basic human right, the city of Montreal will establish a WiMax 2 system—similar to WiFi, but for a larger area—to provide all Montréalers with access to the internet. This will create new economic opportunities for the city as traffic jams could be plotted and cars rerouted in real-time. Internet access will be available in all parks and on public transit for free.
Although inferior to speeds available for home or business use, this Internet will provide basic on-the-go access. The possibilities would be infinite.
Build a fourth public transit option: water
With the Decarie expressway flooded and turned into the Decarie Canal—linked with the Lachine Canal in the south and the des Prairies River in the north—a new waterborne public transit option would be created.
Gondolas going back and forth on the Decarie Canal, passing under overpasses turned into graceful arched bridges, would revitalize the neighborhood decimated by the Decarie’s construction. Waterbuses would also go up the canals and operate on the St. Lawrence River, providing a fast connection to South Shore communities, Laval and the shoreline of the entire island of Montreal.
Trucks and trains would be taken off the streets, as waterborne trucks would also chug up and down the canals, cutting back on traffic and pollution.
Back to our roots: the textile industry
Montreal has the history, infrastructure and know-how to operate a world-class textile industry. This industry would provide high paying manufacturing jobs for the working middle class and create a creative outlet for local designers. This sector is already showing signs of a rebound. With a little government aid, that rebound could be transformed into a boom.
Congestion Charge
As a revenue source and to provide a further disincentive for downtown driving, a congestion charge zone would be established in the area between the Decarie Canal, the Ville-Marie highway, the metropolitan highway and Papineau ave.. The cities and boroughs of Westmount, Ville-Marie, Outremount, the Plateau, Mile-End, Villeray and Mont Royal would fall in this zone.
With proper public transit, the congestion charge would not be a detriment to the movement of people.
Island-wide Bixi system
Montreal’s new Bixi system, where bikes can be rented from automated stations and driven to any other automated system, will be established in all boroughs of the city.
To help the spread of Bixi, a dedicated bike transit system would be established. Every decade a quarter of major thoroughfares on the island would be turned into bike paths and bike-only streets would be established in bike heavy neighborhoods.
The mass transformation of the suburbs is underway
The destructive legacy of low-density suburbia will be slowly undone as large houses are converted into triplexes in Montreal’s traditional style. Streets will be redesigned into grids as additional houses and commercial buildings will be built into the spaces between existing houses. Some houses will see their walls transformed into vertical gardens.
The suburbs will begin to look like Notre-Dame-de-Grace as sustainable building practices return the spaces to productive use.
Urban wildlife trenches flank downtown roads
As the number of traffic lanes is reduced on downtown streets, the extra space will be given over to the construction of artificial habitats for urban wildlife. These reforested stripes will run between sidewalk and road, giving squirrels and other urban animals their own dedicated lane. What's more, these wildlife trenches stand to improve pedestrian quality of life by forming a natural pollution and noise barrier between cars and people.
The Link Volume 31 Issue 01