Pins Ave. makeover is badly needed
Deteriorating water mains the impetus for $40M overhaul of dreary Des Pins Ave.
Montreal's Des Pins Ave. has long had a split personality.
To the west of Parc Ave., it is an undulating ribbon of a street that caresses the flank of Mount Royal. It has offered a home address to a prime minister as well as many an industry baron whose mansions perched over downtown in the upper echelons of the Golden Square Mile. It sweeps past the stately former Royal Victoria Hospital site and the Percival Molson Stadium before descending to the mountain's base.
But to the east of Parc, Pins is a barren wasteland. Even if it is graced by the centuries-old stone walls that cloister the sisters of St. Joseph, the Musées des hospitalières, the Musée régimentaire les fusiliers Mont-royal and ends facing the historic Institut des sourdesmuettes on St-denis St., it is a dreary stretch. Wide, windswept and straight as an arrow, it is more of a means to an end for vehicle traffic cutting across the Plateau-mont-royal.
It's as inhospitable in summer as it is in winter for those on foot. The sidewalks are so narrow, it's difficult to walk two abreast. It's either a wind tunnel of frigid gusts or a hot trek over steaming concrete. For those who live in triplexes, condo conversions and low-rise apartments along the eastern corridor of Pins, there is barely room to venture outside the front door before stepping off the curb into traffic.
It certainly doesn't live up to its verdant name: there is hardly a shoot of green to be seen amid all the concrete.
Some painted bike lanes were added in recent years, but they are a feeble link between the new Réseau express vélo route on St-denis and the lanes coming down Parc that snake through Milton Parc — a.k.a. the Mcgill Ghetto — funnelling riders into downtown. Tragically, a cyclist was struck and killed by a turning school bus at the corner of Pins and Parc on a beautiful fall day in 2017.
Pins to the east is grey and gritty and grim to say the least.
But not for much longer. On Friday, the city of Montreal unveiled long-awaited plans for a $40-million overhaul of Pins, between Parc and St-denis. The impetus, not surprisingly, is ancient and deteriorating water mains that badly need to be replaced. So that means there will be pain before there is gain, when the big dig begins in sections this July.
As noted by Éric Alan Caldwell, who is responsible for urban planning and mobility on Mayor Valérie Plante's executive committee, the essential underground work provides an opportunity to remake what's on the surface.
And it's about time it was made over into something worthy of its remarkable surroundings. Pins is, after all, a gateway to Mount Royal, a park that is as alluring to visitors as it is beloved by Montrealers in search of fresh air, especially during the pandemic.
The plan rightfully includes widening the sidewalks, planting trees, adding planters for shrubbery and installing bike lanes. These are all welcome measures for nearby residents. (Full disclosure: until recently, I lived nearby). And they should be welcomed by all Montrealers who care about the beautification of Montreal and livable urban neighbourhoods.
A rethink of Pins East has been in the works for years. But debates about transportation in Montreal too often pit different modes of mobility against each other — car versus bike, cyclist against pedestrian — when what is really needed is a design that helps various users to share the road more safely. The plan for Pins reapportions space accordingly: it has two lanes for cars in the middle, one in each direction; a separated unidirectional bike lane on either curb side; and expansive sidewalks with enough room for benches and greenery. No one should feel left out. There is room for all on a street built to human scale.
The addition of greenery is also a key aspect of Montreal's ecological transition. Trees, even though they will take time to grow, will help combat the heat-island effect in this densely populated urban neighbourhood where asphalt is plentiful.
This project may not be quite as transformative as the dismantling of the horrific Pins-parc interchange 15 years ago. That ill-conceived urban blight was a dangerous and decrepit division between Montrealers, their mountain and each other. But this is a continuation of a similar vision — and long overdue.
If the eastern portion of Pins is today one of the ugliest streets in the Plateau, it could soon be among Montreal's most inviting.