Where is this path and what is its purpose?

UPDATE: Nobody got it dead on, but Chris was the closest below, correctly placing this path in LaSalle. A few of you also correctly guessed that there is a rail line on the right. Put that together and you get the right answer.

Path to LaSalle train station from Airlie St.

It’s a path that connects Airlie St. to the LaSalle train station on the Montreal-Delson/Candiac commuter train line near the rail bridge to Kahnawake.

LaSalle has the distinction of being the least-used commuter train station on the island by the number of train stops: six every weekday in each direction, or 60 each week. (Compare that with its busiest station, Central Station, which sees 349 departures and arrivals each week, or Lucien L’Allier/Vendôme/Montreal-Ouest, which has 259 trains a week going through that corridor.)

And it shows.

This underpass connects the parking lot with the only usable platform

This parking lot is a not-well-marked gravel lot next to an abandoned building

This used to be a train station but has since been boarded up. The platform, too small for a commuter train, is no longer used.

Though marked as a platform for the commuter train, the western side isn't used because it's too short. Its entrance is boarded up.

The only not-awful-looking entrance to the station is through a park, but it's not obviously a train station entrance.

Back because you demanded it!

There are many streets in Montreal that change names for no apparent reason. Drive straight and suddenly you’re on a new road. Perhaps you’ve crossed a municipal border, or are on part of a street that has been renamed in someone’s honour (or, in the case of Dorchester/René-Lévesque, both).

But this street is particularly bad.

Starting from one end:

• the street turns into a square
• the square turns into a type of street whose translation into English I had to look up because it’s so rare
• that “street” turns into a place
• the place turns into another place
• that place turns into a street

And you can walk the length of all six of these streets in under 30 minutes (according to Google Maps).

What are the names of these streets? And, for bonus points, at what intersections (or other boundaries) do they change names?

UPDATE: Plenty of you got this one right. The answer is:

• Rue McGill (McGill St.), from de la Commune St. W. to St. Jacques St. W.
• Square Victoria (actually Rue du Square Victoria, or Victoria Square St.) from St. Jacques St. W. to Viger Ave. W. (Viger St. W.? Stupid Google Maps)
• Côte du Beaver Hall (Beaver Hall Hill) from Viger to René-Lévesque Blvd. W.
• Place du Frère André from René-Lévesque Blvd. W. to about 10 feet down the road
• Place Phillips (Phillips Place) from that point to Ste. Catherine St. W. (and, of course, next to Phillips Square)
• Rue Aylmer (Aylmer St.) from Ste. Catherine St. W. to Pine Ave. W.

In researching her article for last weekend on one-way streets in Montreal, reporter Brett Bundale asked me a question that I couldn’t think of an answer to off the top of my head. So I’ll pass it on to you.

What is the longest one-way stretch of street in Montreal?

Here are the rules:

• On the island
• One-way throughout the entire length (the street can continue in both directions, but only the continuous stretch of one-way street counts)
• Same direction the entire length
• Keeps the same name and doesn’t break the entire length

I think I’ve figured out the correct answer, but you never know…

UPDATE: According to my calculations, it is indeed de Maisonneuve Blvd., which is one-way westbound between where it starts at du Havre and where it ends (for the first time) at Melville next to Westmount Park, for a total of 6.7 km. That makes it slightly longer than the longest north-south stretch I could find, St. Laurent Blvd., which is one-way northbound between Notre-Dame and Jean-Talon, for 5.8 km.

(Ste. Catherine Street, perhaps our most famous one-way street, is only one-way between Atwater and Frontenac, for 5.5km)

What is this?

UPDATE (July 18): Nobody’s gotten it yet (beyond “it’s a fountain”), so here’s a hint:

Now does it seem clearer?

UPDATE: Finally we have the correct answer: It’s the artificial waterfall outside the Musée d’art contemporain at Place des Arts.

Here’s one I’m not 100% sure on the answer to. So any prizes granted will be conditional on someone not finding a better answer.

What are the shortest and longest complete street names in Montreal (excluding numbered streets)?

By “complete,” I mean including identifiers such as “rue” “avenue” or “boulevard”. For the purposes of this exercise, the French names only will be used.

UPDATE: So far the best guesses are:

Shortest: Rue Ann, Rue Guy, Rue Roy

Longest: Rue du Square Sir-George-Étienne-Cartier

Can anyone top that?

St. Denis + Marcel-Laurin – 23(Papineau) = Decarie

Pie-IX + Chomedey = ?

UPDATE: Yeah, I didn’t think that would take long. The answer is, of course, Sherbrooke.

335 + 117 – 23(19) = 15.

125 + 13 = 138.

I’m working six days this week, so I’ll make this one simple:

What is the minimum driving distance between Sherbrooke and Fleet? And how long would it take to drive from one to the other (and back) at posted speed limits?

For the sake of this exercise, assume there are no stop signs along your route and all traffic lights are green (but one-way streets are still one-way streets).

UPDATE: I’ve removed the references to “Street” as Fleet comes in different formats. Consider all of them in a potential answer, whichever provides the minimum distance is the correct one.

UPDATE (May 21): Rosa has the correct answer below: Fleet and Sherbrooke intersect in Beaconsfield. Therefore the answer to both questions is zero.

At 1.9 million, the most famous one is the first answer that would come to mind for most people in response to this question. But it’s actually third, behind one at 2.61 million and another at 2.01 million, near each end of the city.

And with a project under way at 1.92 million, it’s about to drop to fourth.

What is the question? And what do these numbers signify?

UPDATE: Here’s a hint: The “most famous one” is at Mount Royal (The mountain? Avenue? Town? Metro station? Train station?).

UPDATE No. 2: BruB gets it right below. The question is “What is the largest park in Montreal?”

Mount Royal Park is an obvious candidate at 1.9 million square kilometres (192 hectares). But it’s beat by a bunch of parks on the periphery (it’s sixth, not third, according to figures from the city):

• Cap St. Jacques Nature Park, 288 hectares (2.9 million square metres)
• Jean-Drapeau Park, 268 hectares (2.68 million square metres)
• Pointe-aux-Prairies Nature Park, 261 hectares (2.6 million square metres)
• Bois-de-l’Ile-Bizard Nature Park, 201 hectares (2 million square metres)
• Anse à l’Orme Nature Park, 201 hectares (2 million square metres)

And the St. Michel Environmental Complex is being built into another huge park, which will measure about the same as Mount Royal Park in 15 years.

Where is this?

UPDATE: It is, of course, the Assomption (or L’Assomption) metro station entrance, which forces you to go around the stairs much like Jarry.

This one needs a diagram, so I’m gonna use my l33t ph0t0sh0p skillz:

Imagine you’re at point A, you’re trying to get to point B which is not far away, but an obstacle at X is blocking the road completely. C is the minimum detour between A and B using drivable streets.

Here is the question: For what point X on the island of Montreal is this minimum detour the longest?

UPDATE:

Bryan gets it right below. A break along Senneville Road would be most disruptive, requiring a detour of over 16km through Ste-Marie Rd. and Anse-à-l’Orme Rd.

I guess that’s what happens when you live in a city that has only one road.

I’ve been kind of disappointed that Montreal Geography Trivia games are solved in minutes. So here’s your punishment:

Name all the locations shown in this video.