Tragically, Transport Quebec began work this year on a new exit ramp from the 15 South at Addington and de Maisonneuve as part of the controversial MUHC traffic plan for eastern NDG. Though residents are protesting frantically, Marcel Tremblay refuses to at least delay the ramp until the final traffic plan is unveiled and residents can be consulted about its overall impact.
As members of the NDG community, we feel strongly that there is an alternative to this problematic traffic plan that involves using the Glen site (hemmed in by the train tracks to the north and by the bluff to St-Henri to the south) to wonderful advantage; build all the vehicle entrances and exits to and from the hospital underground towards the empty spaces of the Turcot yards; and, restrict direct access from NDG and Westmount to pedestrians, cyclists and - of course - emergency vehicles. Having a single entry/exit point at this location could allow for a safe, quiet, clean and pleasant hospital complex on the ground level of the whole site, an innovation that would put Montreal in the forefront of green development practices worldwide.
According to Pierre Brisset, architect with the Groupe de Recherche Urbaine, orienting vehicles towards the Turcot yards (owned by Transport Quebec) also solves some traffic problems that are vexing planners.
First, from the 15 south-bound, where 40% of hospital traffic is projected to originate:
Second, from the 20 (from the West Island) where about 30% of traffic will originate:
Third from the 20 west-bound (downtown) where about 20% of traffic will originate:
Moreover, the residents of western St-Henri, Cote-St-Paul and Ville-Émard would welcome these new connections to the autoroutes - indeed, have been clamoring for them for years. So, instead of irritating NDG residents on Addington, who already have an exit one block away, the MUHC could share these exits and entrances with the residents of the southwest who don't have an entrance to or exit from the 20 east between Angrignon and Atwater, or an exit or entrance from the 15 between De La Verendrye and Sherbrooke.
The MUHC planners might respond that since the Turcot interchange is due to be rebuilt in the next 5-10 years anyway, large investments there now will be wasted. To this we respond: open the exits and entrances you can inexpensively now and, in the short-term, make Girouard one-way south (to get the rest of the traffic to the hospital from the Sherbrooke exits quickly) and Decarie St. one-way north (to get it back to the highway entrances efficiently), just as we have detailed elsewhere. As the hospital is built, ensure that the overhaul of the Turcot interchange stays on track, especially the construction of the final exit and entrance.
This might entail a certain amount of budgetary pressure, but we are building this new hospital for generations to come, so it is invaluable that we pursue the best traffic plan we can rather than settle for whatever hodge-podge of measures short-term political considerations dictate (like trying to impress the Shriners immediately or starting with whichever minor spare funds some level of government happens to have on hand). The prize of having the greenest, most-accessible hospital possible in the future will make our continued vigilance well worth it.
Links of interest:
Association des Résidants de CDN-NDG/CDN-NDG Residents' Association
Le Conseil communautaire Notre-Dame-de-Grâce/NDG Community Council
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Updated: 08/04/2007