A riddle this time:

I affect every other that crosses me, but not necessarily every one I touch. And I’m the only one in Montreal that does this. Or at least I was before the merger.

What am I? What do I do to others? And who is the other that’s (kinda) like me?

UPDATE: Three of you independently got the first two right: It’s St. Laurent Blvd., which splits the island between East and West. Any streets that cross it (actually, any streets that can be found on both sides, whether or not they actually cross) get East and West designations. Those that are only on one side (even if they intersect St. Laurent) don’t have them.

UPDATE (June 2): Michel K gets the last part right: Gouin Blvd. in Roxboro splits three streets – 3rd Ave., 4th Ave. and 5th Ave. – into North and South. (Two others, 1st Ave. and 2nd Ave., have North designations but no southern counterpart.)

Kate also notes Montreal West, which is split North-South by the tracks.

Where is this and what is its purpose?

UPDATE: Karine gets it right below, it’s a sound barrier along Autoroute 25. Specifically, along Currateau St., whose homes unfortunately face this eyesore in exchange for some auditory peace.

This broken barrier near the shore rather unceremoniously marks the end of what famous Montreal street?

UPDATE: This is, indeed, the northern terminus of St. Denis St. It is a tiny (and one might argue completely useless) cul-de-sac that extends just a bit past Somerville Ave.

This location is significant, but only if you prefer Google over Microsoft or AOL.

Why?

UPDATE (1:28pm): Quite a few of you got this one dead on, but Zain was the winner.

Welcome to Montreal

This is indeed the corner of St. Denis and Crémazie (or perhaps more accurately southbound Berri and westbound Crémazie), which according to Google Maps is the centre of Montreal.

AOL’s MapQuest places the centre on Berri St just above the Ville-Marie expressway (though, strangely, if you set Montreal as your default location, it centres it instead on Remembrance Road near Beaver Lake).

Microsoft’s Live Search Maps also uses Berri and the Ville-Marie, as does Yahoo! Maps.

For those wondering, I’ve updated last week’s question with its answer. This one should be a bit easier for you Google Maps cheaters:

What is this street?

UPDATE: This one was solved in minutes by Tim below. It is, indeed, Thimens Blvd. in St. Laurent, looking north from Poirier to where the street develops a huge median for no apparent reason. Other than high-tension power lines, this stretch of land spanning five long blocks serves no purpose.

The image is taken from this video, one of many that chronicles the view from a window of a plane landing at Trudeau Airport.

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.