September 21, 2024
Montreal is spending a further twelve million dollars for pedestrian-only areas
The city of Montreal is doubling down on its continuation to eliminate cars from commercial areas of the city, by increasing the budget for further pedestrian-only areas in the coming future.
The City of Montreal announced on Friday that a further $12 million dollars will be spent in pedestrian-only projects over the next three years, while the housing crisis in and around the city continues to force people out into the streets. In recent years, the homeless population has skyrocketed while the city continues to cut up roads for bike paths.
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From the twelve million dollars allocated, ten million dollars will be dedicated to continuing to turn select arteries into seasonal pedestrian-only streets, and the remainder of the funds will be set aside to create new ones. Currently there are nine existing pedestrianized streets in Montreal, with more to come – but not everyone is happy about it.
Many of these pedestrian-only areas are unpopular among the citizens of Montreal, who feel that it is already difficult to navigate the city limits by car or public transit as it is, and this and projects like it will only add to their frustrations. Currently, Wellington, Mont-Royal, Duluth, De Castelnau, Ontario, Saint-Denis, Sainte-Catherine, Saint-Hubert and Bernard have pedestrian-only seasonal zones.
For Anne Gauthier, an elderly citizen, removing cars as an option to get to and from the more commercialized sectors of the city means that going places is getting increasingly more difficult.
“I’m not sure what Valerie Plante is thinking” said Gauthier, “all she seems to car about is bicycle paths and these annoying pedestrian-only areas that make it practically impossible for people lime to get around town”. Gauthier says that walking long streets isn’t practical for the elderly or the disabled and many of her friends are frustrated and no longer visit the shops along Wellington street.
“It’s stupid” said Elizabeth Morris of Verdun. “A stupid waste of tax payers money. People already can’t afford to go shopping or go to restaurants anyway.”
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“By implementing the first summer pedestrian shopping streets a few years ago, we dared to innovate,” said Luc Rabouin in the news release, chairman of Valerie Plante’s executive committee responsible for finance and economic development.
“Requests for pedestrian areas are multiplying,” he added. “Proof that this initiative has become a pillar of our urban life.”
