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analysis: mount royal makeover is about more than banning cars
but promised improvements — including a new lookout and access to dramatic rock walls — are predicated on closing camillien-houde way to vehicles.
dec 12 2023
7 minute read
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frederick law olmsted, the prominent american landscape architect who designed mount royal park, wanted visitors to take their time.
“there were those who would have thought it a triumph of art to whisk people up to the highest eminence of the mountain, give them a big mouthful of landscape beauty, and slide them back to town in the shortest possible way,” he wrote in an 1881 book about his vision for mount royal.
“but let any man ask himself whether the value of such views as the grandest the mountain offers, is greater when they are made distinct spectacles or when they are enjoyed as successive incidents of a sustained landscape poem, to each of which the mind is gradually and sweetly led up, and from which it is gradually and sweetly led away.”
olmsted’s view that montrealers should tranquilly enjoy mount royal’s wonders suggests he would not have approved of camillien-houde way. for 65 years, cars have used the road to zip up and down the mountain
but olmsted was also against steep grades on accessways. so what would he make of the abrupt foot and bike paths with which montreal plans to replace the roadway?
it’s a delicate balance: making it easy to reach the top even as you encourage visitors to stop and smell the roses.
since the hilltop park opened in 1876, fierce debates have surrounded every attempt to alter montreal’s green crown jewel .
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the plante administration’s latest initiative — a $90-million makeover that will transform into greenspace the equivalent of more than two football fields now devoted to cars — is no exception.
many mountain users would welcome some of the improvements the city has in mind. but most of them could not go ahead without the most contentious part of the plan — closing camillien-houde way to cars .
here’s a detailed look at the key changes the city plans to put in place between 2027 and 2029, starting at the park’s northeast corner and moving westward, up the mountain:
new welcome centre
known as “la maison blanche,” this city of montreal building has stood at parc ave. and mont-royal ave. since the 1930s. a new welcome centre for mount royal is planned for this corner.
city of montreal
a new visitors’ centre will welcome mountain users at parc and mount-royal aves. in plateau-mont-royal borough. it will go on a triangle of land that was cut off from the mountain when côte-ste-catherine rd. was extended in the 1950s.
an empty one-storey municipal building — called “the white house” by the city — now sits at the location. built around 1931, it has previously served as a chalet for park users, a public washroom, a snack bar, and a tramway stop .
the city has highlighted the building’s unique architecture , including the exposed ends of the roof rafters and the entrance’s arched transom topped with a keystone.
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park users told a 2022 public consultation that the patch of land on which the white house sits should become part of the park again by closing a short stretch of côte-ste-catherine. they also complained about a lack of public toilets in this part of the park, suggesting some be installed at the white house.
camillien-houde way
an aerial view shows the steepness of camillien-houde way on mount royal in montreal on friday, december 8, 2023.
dave sidaway
/
montreal gazette
camillien-houde way, a 2.2-kilometre road, opened in 1958, replacing a tramway line that plied the route since the 1920s. cars were all the rage and the city wanted to improve mountain access and highlight views along the scenic drive.
fast-forward to september 2023: mayor valérie plante announces the road will be permanently closed in 2027. in doing so, she is reneging on her promise to follow the recommendations of the city’s public consultation bureau. after extensive hearings, that body advised the city against closing the road .
under plante’s plan, through traffic will be eliminated on the mountain, with about 50,000 car trips per week requiring alternate routes. drivers heading for mountain attractions will no longer be able to reach them from the east. they’ll have to take a five-kilometre detour to côte-des-neiges and take remembrance rd.
the city argues mount royal should be about nature. and it says cars are making it dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians. on weekdays, 10,000 drivers take camillien-houde; 85 per cent of them are using it as a shortcut, traffic studies show.
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the roadway will be replaced by a pedestrian promenade and a bike path that emergency vehicles will also use. an artist’s rendering distributed by the city shows two parallel pathways divided by trees, shrubs and grass.
a recent city-commissioned traffic management study confirmed the closure will reduce access to the mountain, though it did not say how many users will have a harder time reaching the site.
the plante administration is also facing a potential lawsuit if it moves ahead. mount royal cemetery is threatening legal action , citing a 1928 notarized agreement giving it access to camillien-houde in perpetuity.
in response to the potential court action, the mayor’s office said cemetery users will still be able to reach the cemetery by car and bus. it also suggested they could use the new paths that will replace camillien-houde.
artist’s rendering shows how the camillien-houde way roadway will be replaced by a pedestrian and cyclist entrance at mont-royal ave. in plateau-mont-royal.
city of montreal
artist’s rendering shows how the camillien-houde roadway will be replaced by a pedestrian and cyclist entrance at mont-royal ave. in plateau-mont-royal.
city of montreal
those paths will be quite steep.
parts of camillien-houde have an average grade of up to 9.3 per cent — a “significant slope,” according to a 2022 city-commissioned study.
people with mobility issues and leisure cyclists may find the ascent arduous. on the other hand, the steepness is part of the allure for the elite cyclists who already zoom up and down the road.
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camillien-houde’s gradient is in sharp contrast to that of mount royal’s busiest foot-and-bike path, olmsted rd., the winding, gently sloped, 6.6-kilometre trail that was part of the park’s original plan.
olmsted said the path’s grade should never be more than five per cent.
he wanted a gentle slope so walkers could savour the landscape, and to make it as easy as possible for the horse-drawn carriages carrying passengers up and down the mountain. cars only made their first appearance in montreal in 1899, more than 20 years after the park opened.
on the other side of the mountain, a welcoming, gently sloped entrance now welcomes pedestrians from côte-des-neiges rd. the city recently created the path on a part of remembrance once used by cars.
environmental and cyclist groups have praised the plan to close camillien-houde to cars, saying it will help protect biodiversity and enhance the experience on mount royal.
but accessibility concerns have been raised by critics, including a group representing people with disabilities.
les amis de la montagne said it’s happy montreal is making the protection of natural environments a priority. but it also warned : “all citizens must be able to continue to enjoy the benefits of visiting mount royal.”
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the city should consider creating “a circuit of small shuttle buses from certain métro stations and possible park-and-ride parking on the outskirts” of mount royal, said les amis, a non-profit group that runs activities on the mountain.
two société de transport de montréal buses — 11 and 711 — ferry mountain users to and from the east on camillien-houde. plante has said her revamp will include “enhanced” stm bus service. no details have been provided.
outremont connection
in the days when tramways crossed mount royal, a footbridge passed over the tracks so pedestrians could get from residential streets in nearby outremont to olmsted rd.
mon
in the tramway days, a footbridge passed over the tracks to let pedestrians get from residential streets in nearby outremont to olmsted rd. the span disappeared when cars replaced trams.
today, a footpath in that area remains, connecting mont-royal blvd. to olmsted rd. to use it, pedestrians stroll along a path in an area known as the outremont woods, then jaywalk across camillien-houde.
once cars are banned from camillien-houde, the city will officially revive this neighbourhood linkage.
the short trail connection is the missing link in a 10-kilometre beltway encircling mount royal. known as the chemin de ceinture du mont-royal, it has been in the works since 2007.
camillien-houde lookout
visitors enjoy the view from the camillien-houde lookout.
peter martin
/
gazette
artist’s rendering shows what the camillien-houde lookout will look like once cars are banned from that part of the mountain.
city of montreal
a popular spot with locals and tourists alike for more than 60 years, the camillien-houde lookout offers a wide panorama of eastern montreal featuring iconic symbols including the olympic stadium and the jacques cartier bridge.
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the lookout renovations will include a “massive greening of an area formerly dedicated to vehicles.”
with camillien-houde closed, the observatory, which currently has 38 parking spots, will only be accessible on foot or bike.
the city is planning a paving-stone-covered area bounded by trees and shrubs and lined with benches.
an artist’s rendering distributed by the city shows people on foot, with some walking their bikes; a grey-haired woman walks with a cane, while another woman is pushed in a wheelchair.
but people with mobility impairments may have a hard time reaching the area.
visitors from the east will have to come up the new 2.2-kilometre path. from the west, it will be a one-kilometre walk from a parking lot near the mount royal park welcome centre at smith house .
rock walls
an aerial view of rock walls on camillien-houde way on mount royal.
dave sidaway
/
montreal gazette
in the 1920s, workers blasted through rock to make a tramway tunnel near the top of mount royal . when camillien-houde replaced the tram tracks, the tunnel became an open-air passageway .
today, the rock walls, which run along about 150 metres, are a dramatic part of the camillien-houde drive.
but it’s a no-go zone for pedestrians because the road narrows here, with little space for those on foot.
under the city’s plan, the rock walls will be “preserved and enhanced,” making them a dramatic attraction once camillien-houde is closed to cars.
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the rockface constitutes “one of the rare incursions that reveal the geological nature of the mountain,” the city says.
new lookout
for many, mount royal is all about the bird’s-eye views.
after cars disappear from camillien-houde, visitors will have another view to take in.
facing northwest, a new observation post will be built at the highest point of camillien-houde, just south of the rock walls.
cyclists and drivers already stop here to enjoy the panoramas from the shoulder of camillien-houde. at the moment, few pedestrians venture to the spot because of the car traffic.
this belvedere will be more accessible than the camillien-houde lookout, about 500 metres from the smith house parking lot.
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