Frustration grows over plan to block cars from crossing Mount Royal

Luc Ferrandezsays he announced the decision to close part of the road that windsthrough Mount Royal to vehicle trafficearlier this month because he didn't believe it would create fuss.

"Not at all," he said on Radio-Canada's morning radio showGravel le matinMonday. "It was just so obvious the reasons why we were going to do it."

Ferrrandez, themayor of the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough and executive committee member in charge of parks, admitted he told reporters about the pilot project to close Camillien-HoudeWay to cars by the springahead of a planned announcement by the city.

That announcement is still coming, he said, and will reveal more details about the project.

But more and moreMontrealerssay blocking cars from crossing Mount Royal will reduce access to the mountain and create a barrier between the city's east and west ends.

The mounting opposition has materialized in the form of newspaper opinion pieces over the weekend, as well as an onlinepetition so far signed more than 8,000 times.

• Motorists will no longer be able to cross Mount Royal starting in spring, city says

The petition says better solutions include reducing speed on the thoroughfare to the point where it would discourage motorists looking for a shortcut and better separating lanes for cars, and for bikes or pedestrians.

La Pressecolumnist Marie-Claude Lortiesaid the plan creates yet another dead end and would mean losing a part of the city's DNA. In theMontreal Gazette, writer Josh Freed called it a "mini Berlin Wall."

Montreal MayorValriePlante wrote an essayof her own in defence of the plan's forLa Presse,saying the project won't limit access to the mountain.

Published Sunday, Plantesaid in the op-ed that cutting off access to cars betweenMaisonSmith and the parking lot near Beaver Lake will "re-balancethe space and bringCamillien-HoudeWay into a renewed and shared mobility."

She argued the road is an outdatedparkway,created as a kind of nature drive-through in themid-19thcentury.Ferrandezsays it's become a freeway, with 10,000 cars circulating on it every day.

'Why would I back down?'

Many of those opposed to the project say the road offers a reprieve from Montreal's construction and traffic-ladenstreets.

The petition says the 800 metres lost to cars in the project will make it difficult to access some of the mountain's key featuresfor those who don't live in its immediate vicinity.

Ferrandez, however,has been staunch in his decision to go through with the project.

"Why would I back down?" he said.

Headmitted, though, that theoff-the-cuff announcement at the beginning of February lacked details, which were left outbecausehe thought most people were aware that the plan has been contemplated before.

Ferrandezannounced the decision months after 18-year-old cyclist Clment Ouimet died while travelling on Camillie-Houdewhenan SUV travelling ahead of him suddenly made an illegal U-turn last October.

But hesays it was brewing well before, with studies and surveys dating back 10 years indicatingsupport for blocking cars from crossing the mountain.

More details coming

"I understand people's frustration," said Sue Montgomery, the mayor forCte-des-NeigesNotre-Dame-de-Grce.Camillien-Houde Way connects the Plateau-Mont-Royal and Cte-des-Neiges neighbourhoods.

"When I heard [the announcement], I was a bit taken by surprise, too, because Luc Ferrandezbeing Luc Ferrandezcame out with it."

Montgomery said she relayed residents' concerns toFerrandezin a meeting with him last Friday.

Both Montgomery and Ferrandezsay theupcoming official announcement will reveal details about the plan they believe will appease people's worries.