Montreal mayor Valérie Plante shielded herself with members of her party and several environmental, pedestrian and cyclist groups — all supporting her new vision for Mount-Royal.
“We are saying that the mountain has to be greener and we’re doing it for the future generations,” Plante said.
Mayor Plante says she wants to add more green space to the mountain by way of closing Camillien-Houde to traffic and replacing the asphalt with trees.
It will remain open only for cyclists, pedestrians and emergency vehicles.
It’s a tough blow for the roughly 10,000 drivers who roll daily along the thoroughfare.
“I’m definitely behind this decision and I know it’s going to change and ask people to adapt,” Plante said.
Plante has always maintained she wants the mountain to be a destination, not a short-cut for drivers.
But the mayor is breaking her promise to keep Camillien-Houde open to traffic, following a failed pilot project that closed the road for five months.
Plante made the decision after 18-year-old cyclist Clément Ouimet was fatally struck by a car making an illegal u-turn while he was riding down the mountain.
Public consultations were conducted and in 2019, the Office de Consultation Publique de Montréal (OCPM) released its report, concluding the results of the pilot project were disappointing and “inconclusive.”
It said limiting car traffic on the mountain could not be done without boosting public transit options for access to and travel through the mountain.
“I feel like the world has changed a lot,” Plante said.
The mayor says the effects of climate change, the need to protect biodiversity and the pandemic have served as driving forces for the decision.
“It’s with all this new reality that we are taking this step forward,” Plante explained.
The opposition is taking aim at Plante’s change of tune and say she’s ignoring the fact that there is demonstrated lack of social acceptance to closing the road.
“We’re not considering these people, we’re not considering the institution of the OCPM,” said Aref Salem, the leader of Ensemble Montréal.
Salem also wonders where the 10,000 vehicles that use the mountain daily will go.
Officials at the Mount-Royal cemetery fear they will end up there.
“We’re worried that people are just going to cut through our cemetery,” said Maxime Jacques, the cemetery’s executive director.
Plante promises to work with all parties involved.
“We will find solutions,” she said.
Work on the project will only begin in 2027 after current construction on Remembrance Road is complete. Remembrance Road will allow access to the mountain from the west side of the city.
The redesign should see the light of day by 2029.
–With files from Global’s Kalina Laframboise and Annabelle Olivier
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