I'd like to know more about the planned highways next to St-Denis and over De La Commune. Any links?

I know of none around St-Denis. As of above De La Commune, the plan was actually featured in the «Montréal voit grand» CCA exhibition. But for years, it was lying in a corner of the central library, on a pile of various maps and plans (including the original Métropolitain boulevard plans in a trench and both the 1944 and 1953 Métro projects). I would often leaf through it, staring with some kind of awed horror (the same kind you will watch an accident video on You Tube) the way the autostrade would wind destructively above the streets of St-Henri, Little Burgundy, Griffintown, Old Montréal and the eastern faubourgs.
Unfortunately, the document “disappeared” following the emergency rebuild of the central library (some 10 years ago). Right now, it must be well classified somewhere in the “great” library.
Specifically, in Griffintown, it veered southward from Notre-Dame (carefully avoiding the Dow Brewery) to reach Commons street around Peel, then simply go right above it all the way to St-Denis, where it started to veer north to reach Dorchester just before the Jacques-Cartier (Jimmy Carter in english) bridge, underwhich it would go in a roundabout to interchange with it with horrible hairpin-curved ramps, then keep going east as clumsily as the Ville-Marie does nowadays.
The horror of the scheme was that the thing would have had the two directions stacked above each other, in the fashion of the infamous Embarcadero freeway in San-Francisco thankfully brought down by the earthquake. And, of course, the pitiful roundabouts at Décarie and Jacques-Cartier would have been hopelessly choked-up mere years later had they been built…
As of the Papineau highway, I only saw reference in some master plan; I never saw any detailed plans, of those were ever made.

I guess that's too much to expect on this blog!

BTW Bixi in the winter... that's a hoot... first let's see the borough of Saint-Laurent get their Bixi stations first! And if we're gonna play the smartass game, ya it's possible if the STM wants to "rack and roll" (google it)

So to save face and avoid being hypocrites, I guess Novabus should build a factory downtown so that all employees can get to work by public transit That should only increase the cost of buses by 200 % or 300 %, which will be justified because at least they won't appear to be liars. Also, Bixi is located in an industrial park in St Laurent, where land is cheap and the stations can be stored cheaply for the winter. Are you also suggesting all Bixi employees should ride Bixis along freeways to work?

Eat your own dog food.
Likewise, Bombardier, the world’s largest manufacturer of passenger rail transit rolling stock has wisely put it’s head-office in the boondocks of Chien-Bruno* where public transit isn’t exactly stellar (it is actually non-existent).
Oddly enough, Novabus and Bombardier don’t exactly go out of their way to make sure “their” municipalities have good transit systems… And in anycase, what good would it do? The transit system offers next to nothing to those who live in the civilization and work in the boondocks.
* An ex south-shorer friend of mine, who since moved here because he was sick and tired of the south-shore disorganization (and crossing the bridge), used to call the snotty uppity ’burbs of St-Bruno, St-Lambert, Ste-Julie «Chien Lambert» and co. (In french, “chien” [dog] is an insult).

I'd like to know more about the planned highways next to St-Denis and over De La Commune. Any links?

-- Xavier

PS: could you clarify your position regarding cars? Not sure where you stand on the issue exactly. :-)

So i'm curious..Montreal was a backwater compared to what? Toronto...I don't think so...Edmonton?,Calgary?,the Peg?..nahhh...must have been a backwater compared to Vancouver or Halifax...thats it!!! it was a backwater to Halifax LOLOL!!!

And

The accompanying paper by Richard Bergeron about Jean Drapeau: http://en.projetmontreal.org/en.php/document/82

The paper paints Drapeau as the leader of a city which was in the 1950s regarded as a backwater which he did drastic things to enhance its world image (Autroutes/Skyscrapers/Metro/Expo 67) and some of the the too far reaching scope of some of these later things (Olympics/neighborhood demolition) helped the city enter a state of decline, only to then scramble and in the late 70s and early 80s to try and lure lost residents back with social housing schemes. Hmmm, sound familiar to anyone?

Unless the freedom you want is to live away from the city you depend on, the car offers nothing more than its alternatives (well, polluton, noise, isolation and aggravated injuries aside that is). But living and supporting one community while your livelyhood is in another is condemning one to failure and that is what has brought us the sad currrent state of Montreal. As emdx showed, cars are in great part responsible for urban sprawl (and thus the diminishing tax-base of the city). Clearly developping car transportation cannot be the main option anymore.

Notice that the prototype Métropolitain is called an "autostrade" in the video. At some point Quebec decided to go with the French rather than the Italian name...

What I'm trying to say is that the people who don't care about the environment + those who can afford to, have to have some kind of incentive to NOT take their cars. Since expense and the environment don't seem to be working, how about time savings. If it was FASTER to take public transport, and a bit more comfortable I think we could make a better case.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

People who demand more public transit and less car use simple have no idea how much more useful a car is.

People who want to drive cars everywhere have no idea how cars are disruptive, intrusive, dangerous and bothersome.

This whole public transit argument is simply a cover up in removing the individuals right to determine what is best for their situation.

This whole car argument is simply a cover up in removing the individual to have a good life without having to blow-up ¼ of his income to further pollution and social alienation (do you think that all those people stuck in traffic alone in their cars are not driven insane by the isolation?), not to mention economic ruin (how are the US carmakers faring right now????).

Forced social conformity will not work.

Forcing people to buy cars by gutting public transit clearly has not worked.

The streetcar idea is completely stupid, as are bike lanes.

Car lanes are the epitome of stupidity. In a car, a person takes dozen of times more room than someone on a bike, and hundreds of times more room than people in public transit. In the city, where real-estate is at a premium, it means that car users get a free ride at the expense of everybody else.
Hey! Let’s charge car uses for the real-estate they need to ride their jalopies. Now we’ll see how many carheads queue-up to take the bus…

Montreal simply needs to expand the Blue Metro line.

Well, do you know what you want? First, you want to drive your car all over the place, and now you ask to lengthen Métro line 5. To where? Dorval? Wanna be cooped-up in a tunnel for 45 minutes? This may suit a caveman, but for me? Non merci.

This line is very under used.

This is great. You advocate lengthening an underused Métro line? Are we a bit short in terms of fiscally responsible logic here???

Has been since the day it opened up. Other than that, it’s really a great waste. This city is pretty much dead.

Dead? Since when?

First with it’s politics (provincial politics really), and now with a inner looking mindset intent on having the middle ages come back.

If there is something middle-ageous, it’s the car. It's asocial, it’s retarded, it’s primitive.

The streetcar idea is completely stupid, as are bike lanes. Montreal simply needs to expand the Blue Metro line. This line is very under used. Has been since the day it opened up. Other than that, it's really a great waste.

This city is pretty much dead. First with it's politics (provincial politics really), and now with a inner looking mindset intent on having the middle ages come back.