Rejuvenating Ste-Catherine Street

[MTLskyline]

A car-free Ste-Catherine Street?
City's 375th anniversary celebration committee considering a pedestrian zone for iconic street

CBC News Posted: Jan 12, 2014 3:21 PM ET Last Updated: Jan 12, 2014 4:04 PM ET

Big plans are being discussed for revamping Ste-Catherine Street in time for the celebration of Montreal’s 375th anniversary in 2017, including the possibility of turning a downtown stretch of the historic thoroughfare into a pedestrian zone.

However, it’s a proposal that’s meeting with mixed reviews.

Gilbert Rozon,Commissioner of the Society for the Celebration of Montréal's 375th Anniversary, says it’s clear that something has to be done about Ste-Catherine Street and lists off a litany of ills plaguing the street.

“You could talk about the parking, you could talk about the fact that it’s always jam-packed, the fact that it’s not as large as it should be, that it’s not easy for pedestrians to walk because the sidewalks are kind of small,” Rozon says.

One idea that Rozon’s commission is considering is a proposal to turn 650 metres of the street from Bleury Street to Mansfield Street, and perhaps more, into a pedestrian zone for at least part of the year.

Whatever the commission decides, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre has made it clear he wants Ste-Catherine to be a busier and livelier place as a result.

Dinu Bumbaru, policy director for Heritage Montreal, worries that shutting Ste-Catherine to cars would have the opposite effect and inadvertently kill the downtown core instead.

It’s a move that has to be given very careful consideration, he says.

“Pedestrianizing the main street of a metropolitan community is a very daunting task. Look at Prince Arthur and tell me if that works,” he said, referring to the pedestrian mall in Montreal’s Plateau neighbourhood.

Prohibiting cars could also have the effect of limiting accessibility to the downtown core, and that could be bad for business.

“Not everyone is going to come by subway,” Bumbaru says.

Coderre says Montrealers will have a say in what happens to Ste-Catherine Street.

The anniversary commission is currently in the process of selecting a firm that will be tasked with coming up with a new look for Ste-Catherine Street in consultation with the public.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montre...reet-1.2493773

[MTLskyline]

Added a poll with some ideas to rejuvenate the street. I left out unrealistic things like a tramway...

I tend to think that pedestrianization is the wrong way to go. I think St. Paul in Old Montreal is a much better candidate for pedestrianization. I find most of the other options interesting though. I definitely think on street parking should be removed, and the sidewalks should be widened slightly (it is annoying to walk on Ste-Catherine if you are "going somewhere" rather than window shopping). If there is space, it could be cool to add a bike lane, to make Ste-Catherine two-directional again, or even just to beautify the street with more vegetation and street furniture.

[Rico Rommheim]

Widen the sidewalks, add some benches and art pieces at strategic places (corners, near landmarks). Also, a rejuvenation of the street without giving it heated sidewalks would be an automatic failure. If we truly are a global city, if we truly are a winter city, we will have heated sidewalks. If they're good enough for Scandinavian cities like Copenhagen and Oslo they ought to be good enough for us.


As for making it a year-round pedestrian zone: big mistake. We don't have the public transit capacity nor the huge crowds to make this viable.

[MTLskyline]

Forgot all about the heated sidewalks idea! If you wants to change your vote, let me know. (the poll is for the single most important improvement, so we will probably all like a few of the ideas there).

Just on a side note, Options 3-7 will require getting rid of at least half of the on-street parking.

[MTLskyline]

Ottawa is the snowiest capital city in the world. Montreal pretty much gets the same weather as Ottawa. Therefore we can deduce that we get more snow than just about any other major city.

At the same time, we have the cheapest electricity in North America and an ever ballooning snow clearing budget.

Heated sidewalks seem like a no-brainer. Our infrastructure would be in a lot better shape too.

[mr.John]

Maybe we should start small, like getting rid of the roof top graffiti that's on the buildings just west of Peel street (south side), that area makes me want to vomit every time I pass by. In fact as a joke (more or less) I e-mailed fatboy Coderre over a month ago pointing out the mess, as of today I still haven't gotten a response from chunky.... ps if they ever fix that mess they should move on to the top of the old palace theatre

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

Added a poll with some ideas to rejuvenate the street. I left out unrealistic things like a tramway...

I tend to think that pedestrianization is the wrong way to go. I think St. Paul in Old Montreal is a much better candidate for pedestrianization. I find most of the other options interesting though. I definitely think on street parking should be removed, and the sidewalks should be widened slightly (it is annoying to walk on Ste-Catherine if you are "going somewhere" rather than window shopping). If there is space, it could be cool to add a bike lane, to make Ste-Catherine two-directional again, or even just to beautify the street with more vegetation and street furniture.

I like this idea. I am on the fence for pedestrianization. It is has been a fabulous success on some major commercial streets (e.g., in Oslo) but a miserable failure in others (e.g., South Granville in Van)

[J.OT13]

Pedestrianize the street? Don't do it... DON'T... DO... IT!



Of course these are two different situations; Sparks street is in the CBD with little population directly near it, the retail mix is mediocre at best and nearly everything is closed by 5pm. Ste-Catherine has an electric retail mix, is well served by rapid transit (similar circumstance for Sparks by 2018 with the Confederation Line u/c 1 block south) and is near residential. That said, wouldn't shutting down Ste-Catherine cause major traffic problems downtown?

[MolsonExport]

yeah sparks street is less than a smashing success.

[Cataclaw]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

As for making it a year-round pedestrian zone: big mistake. We don't have the public transit capacity nor the huge crowds to make this viable.

Much smaller cities, like Groningen, have successfully pedestrianized entire chunks of their downtown cores. It isn't unreasonable to pedestrianize Ste-Catherine street completely. The best approach is a smooth transition in order to allow people to adjust and develop new habits (such as bicycling).

I would begin by improving the street furniture and widening the space allocated to pedestrians by at least 50%. This would cut the number of car lanes from 4 to 3, and possibly just 2. Then, you start closing off the street entirely during the summer, much like the eastern portion. In time, it will become feasible and arguably necessary to fully pedestrianize.

Car space cut 50%, sidewalks doubled: In the next 5 years
Partial pedestrianization: In the 5 years after that
Full pedestrianization: By 2030.

[sam2020]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

yeah sparks street is less than a smashing success.

For many years Spark Street was a joke it was ghost town but the last few years things have really changed and its really doing much much better to add there spending $500,000 to fix it up which will make it even better.

[MTLskyline]

Ste-Catherine St. to get wider sidewalks, more greenery and spots to sit

By René Bruemmer, Gazette Civic Affairs Reporter
September 15, 2014 5:36 PM

MONTREAL - The future Ste-Catherine St. between Atwater St. and Place des Arts will feature wider sidewalks, more greenery, and more open spots to sit and take a break.

These were among the few guarantees given by the city of Montreal Monday for the future of Montreal’s emblematic central downtown thoroughfare. The street is scheduled for a redesign to coincide with major infrastructure work needed to rebuild its aging and leaking sewer and water pipes.

Options still on the table include opening it to two-way traffic, eliminating curbside parking and turning portions into a pedestrian thoroughfare, at least for parts of the year.

The city announced in June it will be tearing up the 2.1-kilometre stretch of Ste-Catherine St. in 2016 for the repair work. At the same time, it launched a public consultation to gather input on how the busy commercial artery should be redesigned.

[...]

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/...494/story.html