General goals

Louis-H.-La Fontaine corridor

• Improve road access and public transportation service to Montréal’s East End while reducing through traffic in living environments
• Protect and enhance the natural environments of the Coulée verte du ruisseau De Montigny ecoterritory as well as the components of the waterside roadway
• Develop underused sites

Planning issues

Accessibility and transit service in the eastern part of Montréal require improvement through the addition of new travel links incorporating preferential measures for public transportation. Numerous possibilities are to be considered, including the extension of Rodolphe-Forget (see Section 4.7).

This planning area comprises Boulevard Louis-H.-La Fontaine north of Boulevard Henri-Bourassa Est. The Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ) is currently reviewing a scenario for completing Autoroute 25 towards Laval, which would include the construction of a bridge across Rivière des Prairies and a public transportation corridor under a public-private partnership agreement. The Ville de Montréal is waiting for the conclusion of these studies before taking a position on the project.

Upon reviewing these studies, the Ville de Montréal expects that the findings justifying this project must include, among other elements: improved service to employment areas with development potential, improved accessibility to the east end of the Island, the integration of appropriate facilities for public transportation and cycling and a reduction in through traffic, especially in terms of trucks, along Boulevard Henri-Bourassa and Boulevard Pie-IX.

Other interventions may also be considered, including an urban boulevard in the Louis-H.-LaFontaine corridor including the construction of a toll bridge with a capacity similar to the Lachapelle and Ahuntsic Bridges. This intervention would integrate a public transportation corridor and a bikeway link, as well as a park-and-ride upstream from the congestion.

Regardless of the solution chosen, any road construction project must respect the character of the area, especially the natural environments of the ecoterritory and waterside roadway, while supporting the development of the adjacent land. Enhancement of the Coulée verte du ruisseau De Montigny ecoterritory is already underway and a multipurpose trail is currently being built along the stream. This path will connect to the Boulevard Gouin Est bikeway and eventually to that in the Borough of Anjou. In light of their great biodiversity, Rochon, Boutin, Lapierre and Gagné islands must also be protected.

Boulevard Gouin Est is part of the waterside roadway. The Plan calls for enhancing its heritage and landscape components: views of Rivière des Prairies, heritage features and areas of rural character.

Marie-Victorin Cégep and Rivière-des-Prairies Hospital may have surplus land as a result of a partial reallocation or reorganization of activities on their respective sites. Development of these areas must take into account the presence of the stream and the final route of the road project. Depending on the road project chosen, unused portions of the right-of-way owned by the MTQ could also be used for development purposes, while taking into consideration the presence of the power transmission line.