The Laurentian highway in the shadow of Dufferin-Montmorency

The images are seductive; the Dufferin-Montmorency highway reduced to a boulevard, greenery on both sides, boardwalks, birds, marshes and the St. Lawrence in the background, like a postcard.

Phase 4 of the Samuel-De Champlain promenade is a dream, especially since its completion seems more concrete than ever After two decades of waiting.

On the sidelines of the presentation of the winners of an idea competition aimed at restoring life and access to the Beauport flats, Minister Jonatan Julien declared that the transformation of the Dufferin-Montmorency highway into an urban boulevard was a sine qua non condition”,”text”:”a sine qua non condition”}}”>a sine qua non condition at the extension of the promenade.

Phase 4 was already promised, now it is conditional on a reduction of the imposing artery.

Practically built on the river, the highway has six to eight lanes over around ten kilometers, blocking access to the banks over almost its entire length.

About-face

By committing in this way, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) completed its about-face that began a year earlier, with the abandonment of the third highway link.

The Quebec-Lévis tunnel project, remember, was to connect to the Dufferin-Montmorency highway via an underground ramp.

While she defended her third link project, the CAQ had also sent contradictory signals on a possible phase 4 of the Samuel-De Champlain promenade.

A year and a half before the next provincial elections, the Legault government now presents itself as the ball carrier, both for the promenade and for the urban boulevard. Without a precise timetable, he undertakes to launch the design work as well as the plans and quotes quickly. Already, $5 million has been included in the most recent Quebec Infrastructure Plan.

There CAQ is, in fact, the last political group in the National Assembly to consider the idea of ​​reconfiguring the highway.

Laurentian Advantage?

If the CAQ seems to be stepping on the accelerator for Dufferin-Montmorency, no commitment has yet been made regarding the Laurentian highway. On the contrary, the Legault government is instead considering a widening, with the addition of a lane reserved for public transport in order to better serve the suburbs to the north.

Since 2011, the entrance to the City center, between Soumande and de la Croix-Rouge streets, has been included in the Sustainable Mobility Plan of Quebec City. Transforming the section into an urban boulevard would, it is believed, reconnect the Vanier and Limoilou districts, calm traffic, improve air quality, green up and densify the spaces recovered by the removal of the tracks. .

Sketches were produced in 2017 by design students from Laval University. No concrete projects have yet been announced.

As for Dufferin-Montmorency, regional public health supports the idea of ​​the urban boulevard, as do the central neighborhood councils. The City has imagined a whole vision for the sector. From a sustainable development and land use planning point of view, the reconfiguration of Laurentienne could even have greater potential.

The positive impacts are even greater than Dufferin-Montmorency. It passes through living environments, there are possibilities for urban requalification, housing construction, improvement of air quality and quality of life for local residents.says Christian Savard, general director of the Vivre en ville organization.

Personally, if I had to choose which One I would do first, it would be Laurentienne.

The gains that would be obtained from a Dufferin-Montmorency conversion are also undeniable, he specifies. There are interesting impacts for adaptation to climate change, to give space to flats and access to water. I won’t deny my pleasure if we do Dufferin first.

Policy

If he gives the advantage to Laurentienne, Mr. Savard is not surprised to see the CAQ prioritize Dufferin-Montmorency. The Laurentian Expressway transformation project is politically and technically more difficult to pass, according to him.

The complexity of the choices to be made for Laurentienne is greater. […] There are somewhat definitive questions and choiceshe believes. It’s a busier highway. How are we going to serve the north-south and northwest axis in Quebec, public transport? Where do we put reserved lanes and other modes of transportation?

Dufferin-Montmorency would be more of a ripe fruit. It’s one of the rare highways that hasn’t filled up, which is clearly very oversized. Everyone sees that there is space to do thingsexplains Mr. Savard.

The configuration is also simpler than Laurentienne, embedded in a more complex urban fabric. Along the coast, he imagines a project to remove the traffic lanes and develop the linear park without too many pitfalls or disturbances, apart from the proximity of the river.

The legacy is also more interesting for the CAQ with Dufferin-Montmorency, especially by integrating phase 4 into it. Champlain, with the other phases, how interesting it is. Let’s say that the stars are better aligned for the Dufferin-Montmorency file.”,”text”:”Everyone has also seen the Samuel-DeChamplain promenade, with the other phases, how interesting it is. Let’s say that the stars are better aligned for the Dufferin-Montmorency file.”}}”>Everyone has also seen the Samuel-De Champlain promenade, with the other phases, how interesting it is. Let’s say that the stars are better aligned for the Dufferin-Montmorency file.

Social acceptability is also there, he continues. The city, the provincial government and the citizens are almost unanimous. We can be optimistic. This government is looking for good news in the region. […] Here is finally an opportunity to do something.

One of Christian Savard’s only concerns for Dufferin-Montmorency is financial. Budget issues worry mehe said.

The other is political. After two decades of seeing governments procrastinate on major issues, such as the structuring public transport network, Mr. Savard maintains a reservation on everything that affects mobility projects in the capital.

You have to be careful when there are transportation announcements in the Quebec region.

Walk and chew gum

The organization Access viable transports has long advocated for the transformation of Laurentienne.

This does not prevent its spokesperson, Angèle Pineau-Lemieux, from unreservedly applauding the recent announcements affecting Dufferin-Montmorency. It is a project which, in the way it is currently carried out, has everything it takes to succeed.she declares optimistically. To me, this is a highway that should never have been built. This reflects a vision that has changed in Quebec on how we have developed our river banks.

However, she believes that the provincial government must do more. In my opinion, we should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. There is a lack of leadership from the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility for Laurentienneshe denounces.

She believes that the files are complementary and that it would be a mistake to exclude one or the other. Dufferin-Montmorency offers a perspective of reappropriation of the river.

These are projects that serve two different functions. For me, if we are not able to do these two things at the same time, we have a big problem.

With Laurentienne, there is the possibility of reconnection between neighborhoods, at the entrance to the city, at the intersection of already densified environments. […] There is an opportunity to provide a considerable supply of housing, with a proportion of affordable social housingexplains Ms. Pineau-Lemieux. There aren’t a lot of areas like that in the city.

Among the similarities to the two potential transformations, she notes the possibility of developing active transportation and improving air quality by calming traffic, in particular.

As to whether the Laurentian highway would not suffer from a lack of attractiveness compared to the scenery that the Samuel-De Champlain promenade suggests, Angèle Pineau-Lemieux does not agree. wow for Laurentienne.”,”text”:”I don’t think there is less of a wow effect for Laurentienne.”}}”>I don’t think there is any less of an effect wow for Laurentian.