Amid COVID-19, Plante takes us for quite a ride

Projet Montréal’s war on cars is making life difficult

“Blame it on the pandemic. It will accelerate the implementation of our plan to ban cars in Montreal. People accept anything at the moment. Besides, it’s good for them.”

As far as I know, no one said that exactly — but when I heard that the City of Montreal was going to widen “pedestrian corridors,” also known as “sidewalks” to the “unwoke,” and add more bike lanes, I could just imagine a similar conversation taking place behind closed doors at city hall.

I’ll try to stay on the positive side of the argument. Friday, I drove from the country for work and to deliver a birthday gift to a friend who lives on the Plateau. Getting stuck in one-way street configurations — the legacy of my radio partner, ex-borough mayor Luc Ferrandez — was more unpleasant and damaging to the environment than negotiating the narrowed down Mont-royal Ave.

That’s probably because there is no one around. But it also meant I could not grab a rib roast at La Maison du Rôti, buy European magazines at Multimags or a baguette at Boulangerie Le Toledo because there is absolutely no parking allowed or available on Mont-royal with this new and — we’re told — temporary, COVID -19-mandated setup to allow more space for people to keep the two-metre distance.

But it’s not enough for the Projet Montréal administration: soon Mont-royal will be closed to all cars, from Fullum St. to Parc Ave.

We are told to shop locally these days so, forgetting the baguette, I went home to my beloved boondocks where I got my hands on the best-selling bread in the area. Sliced, it comes in a white plastic bag with red, yellow and blue dots and a big W.

Projet Montréal seems obsessed with eliminating cars in Montreal as soon as possible. Even electric vehicles seem suspect in their eyes. A car is a car is a car. And while they claim to support public transit, the new configurations double cycling lanes on some streets. That means bus stops are moved or even removed.

According to Le Devoir, the Rosemont-la Petite-patrie borough plans to eliminate parking spaces on residential streets to allow people to install tables and chairs, make a vegetable plot (squirrels will love this) or have concerts. It’s “tactical urbanism,” borough mayor François Croteau says, adding “the removal of parking spaces will have little impact.”

Mayor Valérie Plante’s plans have created a shock wave and the city has had to backtrack on some of its projects, such as making St-laurent Blvd. pedestrian-only in Little Italy and closing parts of Masson and Beaubien Sts. to traffic.

The merchants’ association of St-denis St. wants to delay the plan to make this main artery part of the Réseau express vélo network. Nearby St-urbain will see its bike lanes doubled.

All of these changes are making many Montrealers’ lives difficult. People with mobility issues, the elderly, the hearing impaired and the blind bear the brunt of these changes. Montreal’s ombudsman now has launched an investigation, after sending a warning letter to the administration on May 20.

Yes, the combustion engine’s future is getting grim, but its demise will take time. If it ever happens. Country living is impossible without motorized transportation. Or horses. And Montreal’s deficient transit system has a long way to go before it becomes as extensive as those in New York, Paris or London.

You have to be a believer to happily take two buses to get to a métro station only to get crushed on a packed train. Ask people in the north end.

Proponents of a car-less city mention Amsterdam as the example to follow. Yearly snowfall in Amsterdam is counted in millimetres! And that’s not to mention the absence of hilly terrain.

Ensemble Montreal presented a motion at city council denouncing the lack of consultation and the improvisation that presided over these changes.

Truth is, Projet Montréal does not give a flying tutu about the Opposition.