General goals

CP tracks surroundings surroundings

• Consolidate and diversify employment activities and explore the possibility of conversion to residential use in certain locations.
• Maintain railway operations on the Canadian Pacific tracks while improving accessibility to different parts of the area.
• Intensify and diversify activities around metro stations.

Planning issues

The surroundings of the CP corridor are extremely diverse. Over the past 20 years, industrial activities in the area have declined and some sections of the area have been gradually converted to residential, commercial and institutional uses.

In addition to generating nuisances, railroad activities and tracks limit the area’s visibility and accessibility. However, it has high reuse and improvement potential, especially in light of its central location and the ready availability of land and buildings. An eloquent example is the Outremont railyard, which offers excellent potential for reuse as residential space.

The entire area is marked by the difficult cohabitation of certain industrial activities and neighbouring residential areas. The area’s loading docks, storage areas and outdoor parking lots, along with a lack of landscaping, reduce visual appeal and constitute permanent irritants. Furthermore, the varied sizes of lots as well as the wide variety of building types and bulks make the redevelopment of the area more complicated.

The presence of the railway tracks impedes local trips across this transportation corridor. Not only is it an unfriendly environment for pedestrians and cyclists, its many tunnels and overpasses contribute to the spillover of automobile and heavy vehicle traffic onto certain arteries and local streets. Moreover, the Route verte, which runs along the rail line, stops abruptly in the area when it could be extended all the way to the Rivière des Prairies.

Fortunately, the area is served by several metro stations. Their surroundings should be redeveloped as part of a broader exercise to change the vocation of certain parts of the area. The Mont-Royal Borough bus terminal could be moved next to the L’Acadie metro station, where the Plan calls for the intensification and diversification of activities. In addition, the potential development of a light rail transit system for the Parc corridor would support a change in vocation for this part of the area.