Despite the official start to summer being more than three months away, Montreal’s city council has announced that five more city streets will be turned into pedestrian-only walkways this summer.
The announcement, which was made on an unseasonably warm Canadian Groundhog Day, is part of a growing effort to make the city inviting and accessible. The initiative also promotes ditching the car for more environmentally friendly modes of transport.
“This program puts forth the formidable potential of our local streets and contributes to position Montreal as an active metropolis, lively and urban, where it is good to walk and bike around town,” Aref Salem, Montreal executive committee transportation manager, told the Montreal Gazette.
The addition of the five pedestrian-only thoroughfares puts Montreal amongst a growing number of global capitals that are embracing the realities of new Urbanism. Dubbed pedestrian cities, these world renowned destinations are appealing to residents and tourists with their vibrant, interactive street life.
“The incredible beauty, enjoyment, and convenience a network of connected pedestrian streets and squares provides to the residents on a daily basis is unsurpassed,” states the New Urbanism website.
A 2013, Huffington Post report found residents of cities with pedestrian-only streets boasted a higher quality of life and felt more connected with their neighbours and surrounding community.
“Being able to walk to a mix of shops, restaurants, newsstands, coffeehouses and open-air markets within car-free neighborhoods and work centers delivers the highest quality of life, and adds great variety and vitality to an area,” notes newurbanism.org.
Pedestrian friendly areas are also supported by business owners, who value the increased foot traffic.
Jane Jacobs, author of Death and Life of the Great American Cities, believes these spaces provide, “an intricate and close-grained diversity of uses that give each other constant mutual support, both economically and socially.”
City planners around the world have begun designing entire city districts around this mobile pedestrian concept. These districts are often directly connected to robust transit systems. As pedestrian thoroughfares encourage foot traffic, getting pedestrians to and from these pro-walking areas is also important. The best way to transport large groups around a city is a diverse public transit city, much like the one found in Montreal.
City planners around the world have begun designing entire city districts around this mobile pedestrian concept.
Transportation executive Michael Genereux, who is president of Gestion Termico, a Montreal based public transport company, believes pedestrian focused districts will help ease congestion and gridlock in the city’s core.
Montreal’s Michael Genereux mentions that last year with the 40 summer pedestrian malls that were zoned, Montreal saw a reduction in traffic and an increase in local transit use. He also says that adding five more this year will continue to reduce the amount of cars downtown, which allows transit to operate more efficiently.
As Gestion Termico president, Montreal’s Michael Genereux pointed out reduced gridlock benefits city transit and is also good for the environment. Pedestrian centric areas are often punctuated with trees and small floral and vegetation installations. The lack of cars also reduces smog and carbon emissions, two factors that can make downtown cores stiflingly unbearable in the summer months.
The five newest additions to the Montreal pedestrian mall initiative include, Côte-des-Neiges and du Frère André Sts., The Notre-Dame des Victoires sector, Dijon St., Shamrock Place and De Biencourt St. and Monk Blvd.
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