Montreal’s Controversial Terrebonne Reconfiguration Project – Transportation Chaos in the Making?
In 2024, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante’s ideologically-driven vision of urban mobility hit an unsuspecting west-end Montreal neighbourhood with a crashing thud. Will its residents take it lying down?
Photo by Steve DiMatteo on Unsplash
N.B. This article marks my Substack return, and is intended to both inform and encourage involvement in a critical, local infrastructure issue with widespread repercussions for Montrealers’ future quality of life.
Background
The City of Montreal (French: Ville de Montréal), having earmarked $500 million in new spending over 10 years (Years 2023-2032) for municipal biking infrastructure and an additional $100 million for network maintenance, is aggressively pursuing policies that align with its 2050 Draft Land Use and Mobility Plan document (French: Projet de Plan d’urbanisme et de mobilité (PUM) 2050).
Among the roads targeted for “reimagination” is Terrebonne Street (French: Rue de Terrebonne) in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (CDN-NDG) borough.
After several studies and the aborted bike path implementation in 2020, the CDN-NDG Borough Council approved a $250,000 plan, February 5, 2024 to:
Install two protected, year-round bike paths (with bollards) on the full 2.5 km length of Terrebonne;
Eliminate 200-300 parking spaces - on both sides of Terrebonne (north, south);
Segment Terrebonne into two distinct segments for motorists:
1. One-way east from Cavendish Boulevard – a busy north-south thoroughfare in the NDG section of Montreal – to Girouard Boulevard, just east of Decarie Boulevard;
2. One-way west from Cavendish to Coronation Avenue (see note immediately below)
N.B. After heavy criticism, two-way driving on the westernmost stretch of Terrebonne, i.e., Coronation Avenue to Belmore Avenue (immediately bordering Concordia University’s Loyola campus) is being maintained.
The Terrebonne reconfiguration plan (hereafter referred to as “Terrebonne 2.0”), is scheduled to be completed by July 15, 2024.
Photo: Notice to residents about Terrebonne 2.0 from Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Borough (Credit: Rahul Majumdar)
Fatally Flawed “Expert” Study that Failed to Address Legitimate Residential and Institutional Concerns
Longueuil-based EXP was commissioned by the City of Montreal to conduct a $150,000 mobility impact study of Terrebonne, with the expressed goal of adding a protected bike path to the street.
EXP submitted its 351-page report on September 19, 2023. Strictly speaking, the report is the basis of Terrebonne 2.0’s political – not technical – justification, the means by which both Mayor Valérie Plante and CDN-NDG Borough Mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa of the ruling Projet Montréal political party consistently shut down debate on the subject.
However, far from being an “expert” study, EXP stretches the notion of credibility by:
1. Claiming that 400-450 cyclists daily will use Terrebonne 2.0, a dubious assertion even during Montreal’s peak summer biking season;
2. Failing to address the impact of lost Terrebonne parking spaces on emergency response services, i.e., Police, Fire, Ambulance, whenever the need arises;
3. Failing to adequately consider the transportation, parking, and student embarkment/disembarking concerns (school buses, cars) of four English Montreal School Board (EMSB) institutions located on Terrebonne Street:
a. St-Monica’s Elementary School;
b. Mackay Centre;
c. Philip E. Layton School;
d. Willingdon Elementary School – Junior Campus
three of which (St. Monica’s, Mackay, Philip E. Layton) are located in a short, five-block stretch east of Cavendish, two of which (Mackay, Philip E. Layton) serve students who are: deaf, physically handicapped, communication challenged, blind, visually impaired, or have other related disabilities;
4. Failing to consider the impact of lost parking spaces for the viability of St. Monica’s Church, especially its ability to effectively function as a full-service religious institution (i.e., liturgy, funerals, weddings, etc.) and community pillar without accessible parking for its parishioners and guests;
5. Failing to consider the impact of lost parking spaces for Terrebonne home owners, the majority of whom don’t have private driveways, and the consequences of Terrebonne 2.0 on their property values;
6. Failing to properly estimate and anticipate expected traffic flow and upcoming congestion issues throughout NDG as a result of Terrebonne 2.0 during rush hours and other times, especially in winter. Inadequate observation - EXP’s work team only took traffic flow measurements on two days (neither day in winter) to avoid going over budget;
7. Failing to address Terrebonne 2.0’s impact on the prompt transport and delivery of goods and services for the street’s most vulnerable inhabitants: house-bound individuals, seniors and others with mobility issues, single parents of young children, etc.
Many of the issues cited above and others have been raised by engaged and knowledgeable neighbourhood residents, only to be dismissed by condescending borough politicians and their allies.
EXP has committed the fatal flaw of studying Terrebonne Street in isolation, instead of taking a holistic approach to urban planning/neighbourhood mobility that fully takes into account the ramifications of its proposals for all of NDG.
Photo: Protected southside bicycle path at western end of Terrebonne Street (Credit: Rahul Majumdar)
The Politics. Oh, the Politics…
Projet Montréal’s re-election in November, 2021, with full control of both Montreal City Hall and CDN-NDG, precipitated the shelving of the Terrebonne Street Working Committee on Mobility June 13, 2021 recommendations (currently unavailable on the City of Montreal website) – once thought to be a potential basis for compromise between Montreal’s aggressive bicycle lobby and Terrebonne 2.0’s staunchest opponents.
Communication between Borough Mayor Katahwa and Terrebonne 2.0 opponents has mostly been frosty and acrimonious, and remains so at the time of this writing. One can’t help but wonder if a French-English schism exists, given that NDG remains a majority English-speaking area after all these years.
Would the concerns of Willingdon, St. Monica’s, Mackay Centre and Philip E. Layton schools have been taken more seriously if they were French schools? Note that a fifth school, École Judith-Jasmin of the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM), is located just north of Terrebonne and from all indications unlikely to experience major fallout from the current reconfiguration plan.
It remains to be seen if any current or emerging municipal political parties are willing to officially oppose Terrebonne 2.0 and commit to canceling it between now and the November, 2025 election. To date, there has been limited dissent from Ensemble Montreal, Montreal’s main opposition party and holder of two seats (of five) on CDN-NDG Borough Council.
Lately, ageism has also crept into the Terrebonne 2.0 debate, with younger, presumably healthier and more active residents much more supportive than many in NDG’s older demographic.
Of course, this precludes the fact that many Terrebonne 2.0 opponents are themselves active cyclists and are generally favourable to bike paths and better bike path maintenance.
Ongoing Community Activism to Stop Terrebonne 2.0
Several NDG residents and citizens’ groups have emerged to oppose the imposition of the Terrebonne reconfiguration plan. Most notably, the Association de voisinage de la rue de TERREBONNE/ TERREBONNE Neighbourhood Association led by Mr. Irwin Rapoport and Ms. Valerie Keszey, that has organized information sessions, street rallies, letter-writing campaigns, petition drives, and asked important questions at CDN-NDG council meetings since Fall 2023, if not earlier.
The association’s July 6, 2024 information session at St. Monica’s Church alone attracted about 140 people (myself included), indicating that Terrebonne 2.0 opposition remains undeterred, despite the anticipated summer disengagement from municipal politics.
Short-term and Long-term Solutions
A few small fixes, like limiting the bike path to the segment between Girouard Avenue in the east and Grand Boulevard to the west would have spared considerable disruption for three of the four schools on Terrebonne, as well as St. Monica’s Church.
Instead, we’re on the verge of traffic chaos, especially when schools reopen in late-August. Which is why reasonable people have begun calling for the immediate cancellation of Terrebonne 2.0.
Does actual bike traffic justify one, let alone two protected bike lanes on Terrebonne? West of Cavendish, certainly not. I’ve lived in the area for over 35 years, walking regularly on Terrebonne, and I can confirm that the combined car/bike traffic is undercapacity, even during most rush hour periods. The myth of safety concerns floated by desperate Projet Montréal apparatchiks and local NDG bike lobbyists is especially insulting.
As for Terrebonne’s eastern sections, you have four schools, seniors’ residences, churches and homes that use the current parking space. Give them a chance to air out their concerns, if not at council, then via the ballot box question suggested below.
How about spending some of that $100 million maintenance budget to upgrade the existing bike network in NDG – including the four existing east-west paths that run virtually parallel to Terrebonne, including one (Fielding Avenue) that’s a mere two blocks to the north?
A summer deluge of new traffic signs, bollards, and painted lines on Terrebonne can be confusing - even at quiet times of the day. Credit: Rahul Majumdar.
A Referendum Question in time for the November, 2025 municipal election (District Loyola, District Notre-Dame-de-Grâce)?
To depoliticize the Terrebonne 2.0 issue as much as possible, and to decouple it from the 2025 municipal election campaign as a whole, I have suggested that a separate ballot box question be put to the residents of the immediately affected Montreal districts: Loyola and Notre-Dame-de-Grâce:
Do you agree that the Terrebonne Street redevelopment project, implemented by the Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough in July 2024, must be cancelled and followed by a formal public consultation process?
(French) Êtes-vous d’accord que le projet de réaménagement de la rue de Terrebonne, implanter par l’Arrondissement de Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce au mois de juillet 2024, doit être annulé et suivi par une consultation publique formelle?
The mechanism and doability of such a citizen’s initiative in Montreal needs to be investigated, especially as it may be the only option left to stop this plan in its tracks.
Conclusion
The never-ending Terrebonne 2.0 saga is one of acquiescence to self-centred bicycle lobbyists at the expense of the common good. It espouses an unprecedented mobility upheaval that actually increases the risk of physical harm on the road, forces individuals and businesses to incur financial losses, and compromises the quality of life of hundreds if not thousands of residents in the immediate vicinity.
Some CDN-NDG politicians, consumed by the trappings of power and ignorant of the art of compromise, are guilty of failing their Terrebonne neighbourhood constituents. Those of us who still believe in democracy will need to muster the necessary energy and passion to counter Projet Montréal’s imposed road redesign, using all the tools at our disposal to achieve a goal that’s fair and just for all.