Projet Montréal to consult on Mount Royal plan
Mayor adamant pilot will happen, but hearings could improve project
The controversial Mount Royal pilot project will go ahead, but Montrealers will have a say before through traffic is banned, Mayor Valérie Plante said Tuesday.
Her Projet Montréal administration initially indicated public consultations would take place only during and after the pilot project, which is to begin in the spring or summer.
On Tuesday, Plante said consultations will start “a little bit before” the traffic change. They will be co-ordinated by the Office de consultation publique de Montréal, the city ’s public consultation office, she said. Details are to be announced soon.
“The consultation that starts beforehand is not about deciding about whether or not there will be a pilot (project) — there will be one,” Plante told reporters. She said the early consultations may raise “some concerns and ideas that may improve the pilot.”
Plante said she is not flip-flopping on the issue.
“I did not change my mind,” she said.
“I’ve always said that the consultations would accompany” the project.
Most observers interpreted “accompanying the project” to mean consultations would only begin during the experiment at the earliest.
In a March 1 Facebook post, Luc Ferrandez, the executive committee member championing the pilot project, seemed to suggest consultations would come after: “Let’s not forget it is a pilot project; we will have a consultation before any permanent project.”
As recently as last week, the administration refused to say whether it was considering starting consultations before the pilot project.
In February, Ferrandez, mayor of Plateau-Mont-Royal borough and Plante’s point man on big parks, announced the plan, which is to block drivers from using Camillien-Houde Way/Remembrance Rd. as an east-west artery. That will eliminate a popular route linking Côte-des-Neiges and PlateauMont-Royal.
The aim was to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety, but the announcement caused an uproar, with 26,000 people signing a petition against the idea and 7,400 signing one in favour.
Plante said Montreal has repeatedly studied the idea of banning through traffic on the mountain, with reports recommending an end to it. She said previous mayors lacked the courage to follow through.
“I feel like I’m being very courageous with this — saying I’m listening to everything that has been said, and from there I’m doing a pilot and I will consult,” she said.
Part of Mount Royal is in Côtedes-Neiges—Notre-Dame-deGrâce. On Monday, that borough unanimously passed a motion by the opposition Ensemble Montréal party that called for public consultations before the pilot project.
The borough council includes four Projet councillors and two opposition councillors.
Ensemble Montréal leader Lionel Perez, a city councillor in Côte-des-Neiges—N.D.G., said overwhelming pressure from the public forced the Plante administration to backtrack.
“It demonstrates that the administration now realizes that there’s a strong opposition to their pilot project without having a public consultation,” Perez said. “It’s a very big win for Montrealers who will be able to have their say in the pilot project.”
Perez’s motion refers to the implementation of the pilot project but he said that does not mean his party will necessarily support the experiment when details are announced.
“We can’t endorse something we haven’t seen yet,” he said.
“We’re very open to looking at different solutions but it has to be one that will obtain social acceptability.
“We have to get a certain level of consensus.”
Two weeks ago, there was confusion over another aspect of the Plante administration’s position on Mount Royal.
In a Facebook post, Ferrandez appeared to suggest the city was open to considering a toll on Mount Royal. He was reacting to a suggestion by Montreal Gazette columnist Josh Freed to turn Camillien-Houde into a toll road with a $3 fee.
“At this price, it would still be a highway,” Ferrandez wrote.
“But it could work if, for example, you would have to pay entrance fees for the park that would include parking rights. The cost would be higher than $3 though, probably around $10 though we could offer monthly or annual rates. This can and likely will be discussed in the public consultation to come.”
Hours later, Plante shot down the idea, saying the city would not consider charging a toll to drive over Mount Royal.