Commuters, advocates hope Turcot pedestrian bridge actually happens

A long-discussed pedestrian bridge crossing over Highway 20 near the Turcot, is one step closer to reality.

The “Dalle-Parc” was supposed to be built as part of the new Turcot project. It disappeared from the plans, came back, and disappeared again. Now it seems to have a new life.

Maja Vodanovic, a Projet Montreal city councillor and mayor of Lachine, has been a long-time advocate of a pedestrian bridge.

“On Monday at council, we’ll be voting on a $125,000-feasibility study,” said Vodanovic.

Vodanovic and her Projet Montreal colleagues plan to launch a study into the project at the next city council meeting.

“We have a superstructure for cars, but now we need a superstructure for pedestrians,” she told Global News.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We have a superstructure for cars, but now we need a superstructure for pedestrians," she told Global News.

Philippe Marchand, who rides his bike to work every day from the southern tip of Montreal island was thrilled with the news.

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Currently, to get from Lasalle to the other side of Highway 20, he has to navigate the underpass near the intersection of St-Pierre and Notre-Dame. There is no dedicated bike path and a mess of traffic and orange cones.

“You have to go on in the street, and the people in the cars don’t care. That’s the problem,” he said.

Vodanovic agrees. She says cyclists commuting from her borough to downtown have no safe route to the De Maisonneuve bike path.

“From here to Maisonneuve, we risk our lives,” she said.

To Vodanovic, the $125,000 study is money well spent. It will seek to decide the best place to build the bridge.

“It will be between the Glen site and Angrignon, somewhere in there,” she said.

Tania Gonzalez of the Montreal Regional Environmental Council sees great potential in the idea.

“It creates bridges instead of barriers for the neighbourhoods of Cote-des-Neiges/NDG, the South West, Lasalle, Verdun and so on,” Gonzalez said.

Though the city is paying for the study, the province would be the one to build the bridge. The province says they’re in talks with the city about when and how they can begin consulting the public about the project.

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