Tag Archives: Montreal Geography Trivia

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Montreal Geography Trivia No. 53

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 53

This intersection, whose directions are only slightly off from the cardinal directions, is actually the intersection of four streets of different names.

What are the names of those four streets?

UPDATE: NDGer gets it right below: It’s this intersection in St. Leonard.

The streets are Rue Lionel-Groulx to the west, Rue Valéry to the east, Boulevard Lavoisier to the north and Boulevard Provencher to the south. All four enter the intersection after about a 45-degree turn, and street numbering changes going through the intersection as each axis completes its 90-degree rotation, to reflect the addresses’ new orientation on the grid.

| Montreal, Pop quiz

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 50

As we all know, because street address numbers on east-west streets begin at St. Laurent Blvd., any street that’s on both sides needs to be differentiated with “Est” or “Ouest”.

There are three four streets (by my count) on the island of Montreal that have “Ouest” versions, but no “Est”. At least, not anymore. Which are they, and what happened to the “Est” versions?

UPDATE: I’ve expanded the parameters to the island so as to include Boul. Dorchester Ouest, whiwch wasn’t on my original list. That expands the list to four, all of which have been correctly guessed below:

Continue reading →

| Montreal, My articles, Pop quiz

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 49

(Updated with more hints)

This historical figure has his name everywhere. A major thoroughfare and small street in the city (with a park by the same name nearby), a street in Pointe Claire and another in Ste. Geneviève, plus dozens of streets across Quebec. His name also used to be on something that’s been in the news lately.

Who is he?

UPDATE: Dave gets it close enough below, though St. John and St. John the Baptist are two different people. It’s the latter, St. Jean Baptiste, who is the subject of this quiz. It’s the name of a boulevard in the east end (which turns into a short street near the shore), a park, and tiny streets in Ste. Geneviève and Pointe-Claire.

It’s also, according to the Commission de toponymie du Québec, the former name of Amherst St., which a city councillor has proposed be changed because Jeffery Amherst had this thing about being OK with genocide through biological warfare. Amherst and the street names are the subjects of this week’s bluffer’s guide, which points out some of the silliness of the current debate: Amherst never actually used smallpox to kill Indians, and the Jeunes Patriotes are in favour of renaming Amherst but steadfast against renaming the anti-semitic Lionel Groulx.

One factoid that was left out of the article: there are also 14 other geographic entities in Quebec that carry Amherst’s name.

Chris DeWolf also has some thoughts on this subject, and Josianne Massé points to some other reaction in the blogosphere.

| Montreal, Pop quiz

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 45

This week’s Montreal Geography Trivia comes from reader Luc Simard (who is therefore disqualified). Thanks Luc!

West Island guide 2009

Where was this photo taken?

Bicycle path at Wilcox park in Verdun

Bicycle path at Wilcox park in Verdun

Many of you got this one right: It’s a bike path in Verdun. The island in the distance is the western (er, southern) tip of Nuns’ Island. Note that Verdun isn’t listed as one of those communities that forms the West Island, and for good reason. It’s not even close. To get to the nearest listed West Island town (Dorval), you’d have to pass through LaSalle and Lachine.

| Montreal, Pop quiz

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 44

The intersection of Maisonneuve and St. Rose no longer exists.

What will you find there now?

Maisonneuve and St. Rose (from Montreal's archives)

Maisonneuve and St. Rose (from Montreal's archives)

UPDATE: Jean Naimard nails it below. You’ll find the Parc de Champlain, which sits at the corner of Ste. Rose and Alexandre-Desève. Maisonneuve Street was renamed Alexandre-Desève with the creation of the similarly-named De Maisonneuve Boulevard.

| Montreal, Pop quiz

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 42

Here’s a riddle for you.

There are two streets in Montreal that share the same name (almost, one adds the word “du”), are about 12km from each other and both lie entirely north of Gouin Blvd. (though still on the island).

Their common name evokes forestry, though isn’t the name of any individual type of tree.

What are their names?

UPDATE: Five of you got this one right: Rue Bocage in Ahuntsic and Rue Du Bocage in Pierrefonds. Though extra points for those who noticed that there are two Rues Du Pont, in Ste. Geneviève and Ahuntsic. (The first, notably, doesn’t actually lead to a bridge.)

| Montreal, Pop quiz

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 41

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 41

Where is this intersection, and why is it dangerous?

UPDATE: It is, of course, the corner of Brunswick Blvd. and Auto Plaza Ave. in Pointe-Claire, right outside the Fairview mall.

There are two main reasons it’s so dangerous (not including the fact that it’s the first intersection used by a lot of people in their brand new cars):

  • This intersection of a six-lane road and a four-lane road is controlled only by stop signs (and at one point in its history it didn’t even have that). The intersection is so large it’s hard to tell who has the right of way.
  • Only a few metres away from this intersection is the main entrance off Brunswick Blvd. to the Fairview shopping centre, the largest mall in the West Island. It is also the entrance and exit to the Fairview bus terminal, where 18 bus routes stop. This intersection is controlled by only a single stop sign at the exit to the mall.

This seems like a no-brainer for a traffic light, perhaps even a reorganization to ensure that car and bus traffic have a safer right-of-way, especially because the main way to access Fairview is by making a left turn as shown below.

This intersection has a lot of left-turning traffic who have to yield to oncoming vehicles from three different directions

This intersection has a lot of left-turning traffic who have to yield to oncoming vehicles from three different directions

Vehicles passing through the piece of pavement occupied by this grey car in the middle include:

  • Cars exiting the mall’s parking lot, turning left or right onto Brunswick Blvd.
  • Cars turning left from Brunswick Blvd. into the parking lot
  • Cars heading east on Brunswick Blvd.
  • Cars turning left onto Brunswick Blvd. from Auto Plaza Ave.
  • Buses exiting the terminal to head west on Brunswick Blvd.

And vehicles are expected to look at all this traffic and judge when it’s safe to cross.

Though it’s done safely thousands of times every day, it can take forever during the busy shopping season, and all it takes is one bad judgment to cause an accident.

These intersections need a set of traffic lights. Now.

| Pop quiz, West Island

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 39

MGT #39

‘Roundabout where is this?

UPDATE: Jason gets it right below. It’s the intersection of Sources Blvd. and Riverdale Blvd. in Pierrefonds, just beyond the tracks, one of the few roundabouts on the island.

Riverdale Blvd.: Behold the suburban conformity!

Riverdale Blvd.: Behold the suburban conformity!

The roundabout, which I crossed a while back on my bike, leads to a new development in the Parc des Rapides du Cheval Blanc that is so new the streets don’t have names, the driveways are made of gravel and grass hasn’t grown yet on the yards. I took a brief tour of the neighbourhood, noticed a lot of young families, many of Indian and south Asian descent.

I also noticed a lot of insects, reminding me that this development is encroaching on what was once their habitat.

Domaine des Brises

The Rapides du Cheval Blanc is one of the 10 Eco-territories on the island of Montreal, which some might assume to mean its territory is sacred and can’t be touched. But in 2007, the borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro approved a development of 251 housing units (PDF), about half of which are in the form of single-family detached houses that all look alike. The developers had actually wanted to build 650 housing units, but pressure from the city forced them to scale back from 15 to 10 hectares. The revised project also talked a lot about “integrating” into the territory by using the same trees or something. Still, the development cut 21% of the green space out of the eco-territory.