Most of these beachgoers soaking up the sun at the Phase 3 Promenade Samuel de Champlain beach earlier this summer came by car. The Sillery council wants to improve access by bus and bike.
Photo from CCNQ
Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
peterblack@qctonline.com
The Sillery neighbourhood council (conseil de quartier) is mounting a campaign to have improved access to Phase 3 of Promenade Samuel-De Champlain and its popular beach area.
The council adopted a resolution at its Sept. 12 meeting calling on the Ville de Québec, the Commission de la capitale nationale du Québec (CCNQ) and the Réseau du Transport de la Capitale (RTC) to “improve active mobility and public transport links between the top and bottom of the Sillery cliff to improve the accessibility of Phase 3 of the Promenade Samuel-De Champlain.”
The motion, moved by neighbourhood council member Janet Drury, also calls on the three bodies to consult with the council as they ponder ideas to improve access and reduce congestion from car traffic trying to access the beach area.
The problem of access arose quickly this summer when throngs of people flocked to the newly opened Phase 3 project, which features a huge swimming pool, a large water-jet park and access to the riverside beach as well as large sandy zones, playgrounds and picnic areas.
As the preamble to the resolution notes, most beachgoers arrived by car, only to find parking spots at a premium, leading to congestion on Promenade Champlain as people sought a place to park.
“The cliff is really an obstacle,” Drury said. “You really pretty much have to have a car” to get to and from the beach, given the lack of public transit service.
Drury said the council sprung into action following comments in mid-August from Jonatan Julien, the Quebec government minister for the capital region, calling on the CCNQ to come up with ideas to improve access to the park. Julien had called for a review in September.
“Timing is everything,” Drury said, “and this is the time to let our ideas be heard.”
The ideas the Sillery council proposes, supported by the Montcalm council and the neighbourhood council bicycle consultation organization, include better RTC bus service for the Promenade as well as better accessibility for cyclists.
Regarding RTC service, Drury said the public transit corporation had brought in a shuttle bus service, number 400, that ran from Old Quebec to the aquarium, but it only ran on weekends and was not linked with regular bus routes.
Another idea would be to equip buses that do serve the Promenade with bike racks, or to add bus shuttles just for bikes.
Drury noted the RTC has already moved to increase the number of àVélo stations on the Promenade. The electrically assisted bike rental service enjoyed a highly successful run in its third season and is planning to add 41 new stations.
CCNQ spokesperson Jean-Philippe Guay said, “Obviously, we want to encourage active mobility in order to limit the number of vehicles in the area and take into account parking capacity. For example, bicycle racks will be added to the 150 already in place near the beach station, allowing more cyclists to stop there and enjoy the site.”
Guay said, “Throughout the fall, we will consult all the partners involved in the various operations of the Promenade and the beach station to have an overview of the situation and to take the necessary actions in anticipation of the next season.”
Drury said the immense popularity of the beach below the cliff from Sillery presents an opportunity for the district to attract more people to the newly revamped Ave. Maguire and sites such as the Bois de Coulonge and the new Sentiers des Grands Domaines de Sillery. She said merchants in the district may want to revisit the idea of a tourist shuttle bus that operated a few years ago in light of the beach’s popularity.
Drury said she hopes Maude Mercier-Larouche, city councillor for the district and president of the RTC, will support the initiatives of the Sillery neighbourhood council.
The traffic problems Phase 3 experienced in its inaugural summer, Drury said, were foreseen in environmental assessment reports on the project.
A 2013 report by the Bureau des audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE), a provincewide body which assesses the environmental impact of major development projects, said, “The CCNQ’s parking proposal seems inconsistent with the current trend in terms of travel management. Parking needs are analyzed solely based on users from the beach sector who would travel by car.
“Collective transportation, although considered, is not really favoured. Cyclists who make up a significant portion of users in phase 1 and the future Phase 3 seem absent from the calculations of potential attendance in the beach sector.”