For me, it’s just pessimism at this point. Montreal has a lot going for it, but if you want access to fast, frequent & reliable transit, you need to live near an existing (or under construction) metro or REM station. I don’t expect to see any other rail transit projects here any time soon.

This is much different than the situation in the GTA where many projects are actually being built (albeit with insane construction costs). Here in Montreal, we hear new proposals for transit projects & after a few years they usually get cancelled or they’re just not built and we don’t hear updates.

The tram “projects” in Montreal are just political announcements and it’s quite possible that they could be cancelled (the tram to Lachine was cancelled recently by the provincial government). The only two rail transit projects being built now in Montreal are the REM & the metro blue line extension.

Oui, je suis d’accord. Quand je parlais des secteurs industriels, je pensais plutôt à Namur-Hippodrome et Bridge-Bonaventure, par exemple. Je suis pour ces projets, mais j’ai peur qu’on décide de concentrer la croissance de la population dans des îlots de bon urbanisme entourés d’usages polluants.

J’ai vraiment peur qu’on décide de concentrer la densification (et donc, la croissance de la population) dans des zones proches des autoroutes, gros boulevards, usages industriels, etc. tandis que les quartiers centraux de Montréal pourraient devenir de plus en plus riches et exclusifs.

I’m not sure though if the current building code could allow for taller (4 or more floors) single-stair point-access block buildings as long as every unit has a balcony with outdoor stairs going to ground level. Most buildings in Montreal with 4 or more floors seem to have double-loaded corridors.

The units in the 3-storey multiplex buildings in Montreal all have balconies in the back with outdoor stairs that act as an emergency exit. New 3-storey walkup apartment buildings with 1 indoor staircase & outdoor stairs in the back leading to balconies are also still built quite often.

In many people’s minds, old low-rise rental apartment buildings without fancy amenities in the building are “apartments”, whereas newly-built taller apartment buildings with nice amenities are “condos”, regardless of whether the units are actually condominiums or rental apartments.

The term “condo” also connotes luxury for people in Montreal, so some developers and landlords in Montreal promote modern/luxury rental apartments as “rental condos”, even if the building is 100% purpose-built rental.

I think that the fact that it wasn’t constant was really what made it dangerous for pedestrians. Pedestrians would cross the street without realizing that the temporary contraflow bus lane was in service and that they had to look for buses travelling in the other direction.

youtu.be/7zeMkVfJpx8?...

What Montreal had on Pie-IX was different than this. Pie-IX is a 2-way boulevard, & from 1990 to 2002, during weekday rush hour, one of the inner-most car lanes would be turned into a contra-flow bus lane (separated only by orange cones) so buses with doors on the right could serve island bus stops.

“One more study will fix it, bro!”, they say.

Seriously though, what could have changed since 2015 (the last time they studied this) that could make this project less of a good idea nowadays than it was back then? They should just build it already.

“The ARTM says it welcomes the proposal and is committed to improving the area’s accessibility. The regional transit authority says analyses done in 2015 need to be updated. Québec’s transport minister did not respond to a request to comment…”

So they don’t want to actually build this anytime soon.

“Our modelling shows, [the new Silvertown tunnel] will help to reduce congestion at the Blackwall Tunnel, deliver faster journeys during peak times, help manage overall air quality and allow for better cross-river public transport.”

I guess they maybe don’t understand how induced demand works? 🤷‍♂️

So basically any city that has tall buildings in its downtown and bright lights at night can be a “destination dupe” for NYC? Someone who lives in Toronto and just wants to visit a destination that could be confused for NYC cold just go to Yonge-Dundas Square.

Similarly, in Montreal the STM still doesn’t announce connections to the REM & Exo on the Montreal metro. Hopefully they’ll start announcing connections to the REM once the REM extension serving McGill & Édouard-Montpetit stations opens.