Cavendish

Public urged to sign Cavendish-Hippodrome petition

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , ,

By: Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Members of Côte St. Luc council and traffic expert Rick Leckner urged the public to sign — in the thousands — a National Assembly petition asking that “before there is any further government funding to develop the Hippodrome site, that the City of Montreal respect the schedule they set out in 2022 for the Cavendish [extension] project and put it back in their Capital works budget.”

The petition, sponsored by D’Arcy McGee MNA Elisabeth Prass, is on the National Assembly website this week, accessible via the link www.assnat.qc.ca/en/exprimez-votre-opinion/petition/Petition-10931/index.html. The deadline to sign the petition is October 12.

Prass recently told The Suburban that “we’re concerned the City of Montreal is not upholding the 2017 agreement it signed when the government of Quebec handed over Blue Bonnets to Montreal— the agreement stipulates the extension has to be done to develop Blue Bonnets, and we see Montreal is bypassing that.”

A message to residents of Montreal, obtained by The Suburban, says the government of Quebec should “take its responsibilities seriously and ensure that Montreal put Cavendish back on track.

“That agreement [with Quebec] is clear. The Quebec government gave the City of Montreal a property worth more than $50 million on condition that the City of Montreal proceed with the Cavendish extension project.”

“It’s time we did something,” Leckner told the August 12 CSL council meeting. “What’s been going on with the City of Montreal is shameful….It’s time for the public to get involved. We need thousands and thousands of signatures to demand no further government funding be allocated to the Hippodrome project until the City of Montreal puts Cavendish back on the Capital Works program. This affects all of us every day.”

Councillor Dida Berku also urged thousands to sign the petition. “Council will share that petition,” she added. “I think 60 days will be enough time to get support from the citizens.” n

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Opponents rally against bike path

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

The work schedule for the reconfiguration of Terrebonne has already been established, with the first phase transforming the road into one-ways heading east and west from Cavendish, (to Girouard and Coronation respectively), installing a two-lane bike path and removing parking from the north side, slated for the week of June 24.

The plan has been adopted and the work schedule pronounced, but that did not stop opponents from rallying against the scheme, which they have long contended was not adopted with consultation of residents affected and is being imposed on the neighborhood to serve a small minority. They further questioned the bicycle traffic data and methodology used to support the plan, which will ultimately result in some 300 less parking spaces on Terrebonne. One person noted that after 90 minutes on the corner, only 9 cyclists were seen on the roadway., prompting another to say “the 400 the borough claims all ride at 3 am!” to hoots of laughter.

Some 120 people rallied at William Hurst park on Saturday to voice their opposition to the plan, carrying signs and hearing speakers, including NDG school commissioner Joseph Lalla and Snowdon councilor Sonny Moroz, along with organizers who denounced the process as undemocratic, and promised to not let up the pressure to see the project stopped or reversed “until a real consultation” is held, said co-organizer Irwin Rapoport.

Several demonstrators spoke of the effects on different institutions, indicating that the city will not allow Saint-Monica’s church to transform part of their greenspace into parking, effectively forcing the church to dramatically alter its weddings and funeral practices.

Watched closely by two SPDM officers, the group was heckled frequently by passers-by on bicycles, with shouts of “bring on the path!” and “deal with it!” as well as one cyclist stopping to berate the protestors before she departed cursing at the crowd. Many motorists however, honked in support of the demonstration, including several city of Montreal vehicles, with one municipal employee telling The Suburban at the intersection, “downtown doesn’t care about any of these people.”

The work will continue in three phases: Cavendish to Coronation; Cavendish to Grand; and Grand to Girouard and is expected to last about a month. n

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“Betrayal”:Terrebonne bike path raises ire

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

Almost 100 people came to Saint Monica’s Church last weekend for an info-session by the Terrebonne Neighbourhood Association, which opposes the Côte des Neiges–Notre Dame de Grâce plan for a Terrebonne bike path. Slated for implementation this summer, the plan eliminates 200-plus parking spaces, enforces existing restrictions near intersections and creates a two-way year-round bike path, making Terrebonne one-way east and one-way west from Cavendish.

  • “The borough mayor said you were consulted and that the situation on Terrebonne is unbearable and dangerous,” said co-organizer Irwin Rapoport, eliciting laughter and shouts of “bullit!” Organizers say the plan affects residents, visitors, deliveries, home repairs and social services, and creates safety risks for children at Willingdon, St. Monica, Mackay Centre and Philip E. Layton schools, and “traffic chaos and added congestion.”

Co-organizer and Terrebonne St. homeowner Valerie Kezsey said parking in front of her home was one reason she moved here, but it’s not about a spot in front: “I would like to be able to park my vehicle within a reasonable distance of my residence because I come home with groceries, I do animal rescues… So many people are so upset,” she said, not being consulted as “a resident, owner and taxpayer… to accommodate a small group of cyclists while inconveniencing residents, teachers, nurses and schools.”

Snowdon councillor Sonny Moroz recalled the last Terrebonne path imposed without consultation was removed after angering residents, prompting complaints to Montreal’s ombudsman. A borough committee was then struck, producing a report and recommendation for a one-way Terrebonne with two bike lanes maintaining parking, Moroz saying the administration “only took the part they wanted… they say they consulted you for five years because there’s no definition of consultation.”

Committee member Yvonne Kiely felt betrayed. “In good faith we came up with a pilot project for Madison to Girouard on one side and left all parking,” which was more mindful of older residents with mobility issues. Fellow member Guylaine Cormier said a consensus was reached with a final report calling for a post-study follow-up. “That never happened,” and she was told the study and committee’s work was finished and “part of an old mandate. I was stunned. An election cancels all decisions taken?”

EMSB school commissioner Joseph Lalla insisted hundreds of daily employees “are going to have a major problem,” as “not only teachers but attendants, supervisors, and helpers have to find parking,” in addition to safety concerns during pick-up and drop-off.

Borough spokesperson Étienne Brunet told The Suburban there will be wider buffer zones and narrowed bike lanes near schools and drop-off areas, and the reconfiguration will reduce daily traffic from “the current 6,000 vehicles to 3,000 in the institutional sector.” As for contractor/mover parking, he said conditional permits may be issued depending on configuration in front of a residence, but “under no circumstances will we prevent a move from taking place due to a bicycle installation,” adding citizens are primarily responsible for obtaining permits, but contractors/movers can do so at the customer’s request.

Cormier remains incensed by the administration’s contention that consultation took place during the elections, since Projet Montréal was elected with a known bicycle mobility agenda. She told Mayor Gracia Katahwa at last November’s raucous information meeting to “stop taking us for imbeciles,” and last week urged residents to attend council, “be present and vote in November 2025.” Rapoport added “Projet Montréal has to understand, particularly Mayor Katahwa and (councillors) Peter McQueen and Despina Sourias, that they will not run roughshod over residents.”

Saint Monica parish member John Wilkinson said the church may have to reconstruct the driveway and entrances for funerals and weddings, eliminating a walking path and green space, “creating another animosity in the area.”

The association is holding a demonstration at William Hurst Park on Saturday, May 25 at 1 p.m. n

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City ignores Cavendish link in Hippodrome plan

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

By Joel Goldenberg and Joel Ceausu


The Suburban

Côte St. Luc councillor Dida Berku is accusing the City of Montreal of intentionally leaving out any link between the Hippodrome development and Cavendish Blvd. in CSL as part of the Hippodrome plan, even as Plante said a connection between Cavendish in CSL and Jean Talon is a priority as part of the development.

“It’s what we’ve been saying for the past 20 years — it’s a missing link,” Berku told The Suburban as she was looking at the master plan map. “There’s 118 pages of maps, drawing and schematics and pictures of tramways, and nowhere does it connect to Cavendish. It says it will, eventually, but there’s no plan, no indication of what it will look like.”Berku says this is contrary to Montreal’s 2022 plan “which had a clear connection from Cavendish to the Jean Talon area, and it’s not in this plan. It stops in CDN-NDG.

“They have deliberately, intentionally omitted it. Why? This is the mystery of the decade! In our view, the only way to develop this whole area, including the Hippodrome, is to open Cavendish first. Not just to decongest, but to provide the necessary access and egress from a security perspective. How can you have a dead end?!”

Mayor Mitchell Brownstein said that he brought up the Cavendish extension at last week’s agglomeration meeting, and also asked why the Cavendish environmental study is not moving forward.”The City claimed the route of an eventual extension is complicated by Hydro-Québec servitudes, however that is false. CSL has a letter from Hydro-Québec stating that the proposed route has no impact on its servitudes. Montreal’s fact-free response has convinced me it is acting in bad faith and continues to ignore its obligation to build the Cavendish extension project which was a condition by the province when it ceded the Hippodrome land to the City of Montreal for $1. CSL and its partners must move forward to enforce the contractual agreement which may very well require legal action.”

The city’s Hippodrome plan excluding Cavendish has come about a decade late and eight months after it was last promised. Billed as a “city within a city,” the Plante administration’s Master Plan for the Namur-Hippodrome sector lays the foundation for a massive urban development project in the Snowdon district of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.

The city’s plan envisions some 20,000 new homes to accommodate a potential population of up to 40,000 people, half of which will be on the site of the old racetrack, and the city says it will shelter about half of the units from speculation. The future eco-district will include housing intended for low- or moderate-income households, with some half of those racetrack-slated units for affordable housing.

The three-phase plan for a carbon-neutral sector that traverses a newly covered portion of Décarie, also includes plans for a tramway along a newly developed Jean Talon, some 14 hectares of new parks and public squares, and a central park and green belt with “massive planting of trees and plants.” The city is promising sports, community and cultural facilities, local services, schools and employment areas.

The plan requires more than $1 billion in infrastructure investment, and there are millions already slated for preliminary studies for different elements like the tramway. Jean Talon will be extended to Cavendish, but there is no specific mention of plans for the Cavendish extension.

Mayor Plante said that, “by being the owner and developer of this land, we are seizing this opportunity of the century to make this new district a showcase of Montreal’s ambitions, particularly in terms of innovation, inclusion and citizen participation.”The Master Plan will be subject to a final public consultation next month, with final adoption expected later this year. The city says the project will be completed in “accelerated mode,” targeting a 10-year infrastructure completion schedule, and will be ready to issue first construction permits next year.

Saint-Laurent Mayor and Official Opposition Critic for infrastructure Alan DeSousa says the potential development of the Hippodrome owes much to the dedication of community and philanthropic organizations, “particularly through the GALOPH (Hippodrome Project Acceleration Committee). However, uncertainties persist due to the absence of a clear strategy to attract developers and build 10,000 affordable housing units.”

He called the project’s realization “merely a conceptual goal for now,” noting cost estimates are lacking, “and the decision to prioritize the announcement of a tramway project while remaining silent on the Cavendish extension underscores a lack of decisive leadership by the Plante administration after seven years of inaction.” n

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Fencing Cavendish

Local Journalism Initiative / / / ,

By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

Cavendish is getting a fence.

Côte-des-Neiges—Notre Dame de Grâce borough council approved a motion to install 287 metres of fencing on the Cavendish median between Sherbrooke and the de Maisonneuve overpass this year.

Cavendish is a major axis with two lanes of traffic in a north/south direction and this is a section with dense vehicle and pedestrian traffic. There are also bus stops on both sides of the boulevard as well as businesses and several apartment buildings with many pedestrians needing to cross east/west and vice versa.

In December 2022, a teenage girl was seriously injured after she was struck by a vehicle while illegally crossing opposite Place Cavendish. It was determined that a fence could improve the safety of pedestrians on the block by encouraging them to cross at the Sherbrooke intersection or using the de Maisonneuve overpass.

The project consists of installing new fences of approximately 287 linear metres; and if required, reconstruction of sections of the central concrete median, repair of water works and interventions on urban technical networks.

The borough will design and execute the work and the central city, responsible for the Cavendish artery, will assume the estimated $495,000 cost. A call for tenders is expected in March with a contract awarded in April and completion of work this summer. n

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