Over the past few years, the Société de Havre de Montreal has invested considerably in analyzing and identifying the opportunities and mounting challenges that face the Montreal waterfront – an area including Old Montreal, the Old Port, Jean-Drapeau Park and the South Shore.

The Société’s published reports and website highlight their conclusions. Many of these conclusions form the “raison d’être” for the Montreal Aerial Gondola. Here are some of the major issues as quoted from the Société’s reports and website.

It is interesting to note that Mayor Tremblay has recently announced that the City of Montreal will build three new tram routes in Montreal. The first of these tram routes will operate from downtown (Peel and St. Catherine), south on Peel St to Griffintown, east along the Old Port to Berri St, north on Berri St and return to downtown. The Mayor hopes to have this new tram system operating by 2011/2012. This new tram system will bring many people (visitors, tourists and locals) to Old Montreal / the Old Port – without a vehicle. The visitors, tourists and locals who also want to visit Jean Drapeau Park can do so using the Montreal Aerial Gondola – again, without a vehicle.

The Montreal Aerial Gondola itself solves many of the problems pointed out by the Société du Havre de Montréal – as listed below. The combination of the new tram system and the Montreal Aerial Gondola working together come a long way to solving all the problems listed below.

Regarding Congestion and Accessibility

• “If steps are not taken to address the current situation, traffic congestion will continue to create tension between the recreational-tourism function and the residential function of the area; it will also be impossible to ensure better distribution of visitors between the various attractions in the harbourfront, and there will be no point in considering the installation of new high-use tourist facilities. As a result, urban habitat development as a whole will suffer.” (page 16, Montreal Harbourfront – Vision 2025)

• “… the current problems of cohabitation must be solved – in particular the large numbers of seasonal users and the intolerable traffic congestion in the Old Port, Cité du Havre and Jean Drapeau Park.” (page 108, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “… the fact that most visitors and workers choose to use their cars rather than public transit create traffic jams and terrible congestion. This has an impact on Old Montreal and Jean Drapeau Park, not to mention Cité du Havre. The situation is intolerable for both residents and visitors who feel they must rely on the only means of transport they consider reliable and efficient.” (page 112, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “Even if we wanted to freeze development in its current state, these major accessibility and transportation management problems must be solved, and soon.” (page 65, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “…the harbourfronts two main destinations (Old Montreal / Old Port and Jean Drapeau Park) have, for several years, reached a level of complete saturation in terms of automobile traffic during the peak season.” (page 68, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “These attendance spikes, concentrated in time and stimulated by major special events, create acute automobile congestion problems in both Old Montreal and Jean Drapeau Park. The situation has become intolerable, particularly for Old Montreal and Cité du Havre residents. It is also very irritating for tourists and visitors in search of available parking, who may well lose patience in the area’s narrow, overcrowded streets.” (page 85, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “The site analyses … identified … ineffective management of massive vehicle traffic during peak tourist season (acute congestion problems in Old Montreal and Jean Drapeau Park);” (page 65, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “Unless there is a shift in the transportation management methods used, the Montreal Harbourfront area will quickly become a place that is unpleasant to visit and, during the summer season, unliveable.” (page 73, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “… an efficient, attractive transit service to the various harbourfront destinations should be planned and provided…” (page 69, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “There is a very clear consensus around the need to turn to public transit as a way of reducing traffic congestion in the Old Port.” (page 112, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “The concerns expressed underscored the importance of significantly reducing the role of cars as the preferred means of getting around for the vast majority of visitors, and consequently improving the public transit service.” (page 110, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “… a substantial reduction in automobile use in favour of other modes of transport… is essential.” (page 70, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

Regarding a Direct Link Between the Old Port and Jean Drapeau Park

• “The lack of a direct link between the Old Port and Jean Drapeau Park forces visitors to rely mostly on their cars, leading to terrible congestion along the harbourfront and serious problems for residents during the high tourist season.” (The Harbourfront Newsletter – Volume 1, Number 1)

• “The public transit system does not link or only links indirectly the various harbourfornt destinations. For example, aside from the ferry service to the Parc des Îles, there is no direct link between Old Montreal and Jean Drapeau Park…” (page 73, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “Shortcomings … in accessibility … (due to the) absence of direct links, or incomplete links, between the various sectors or destinations of the harbourfront (Old Montreal / Old Port and Jean Drapeau Park…).” (page 70, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “The surface transportation system does not adequately meet the needs for internal travel within each of the various harbourfront destinations (Old Montreal / Old Port, Jean Drapeau Park).” (page 73, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “Encourage Loto-Quebec to continue modernizing the Casino, while linking it with the Old Port by a public transit system.” (Société du Havre de Montréal website)

• “Provide public transit to remedy the lack of connections between the different parts of the harbourfront.” (Société du Havre de Montréal website)

Regarding the Environment

• “Air quality, noise, motor vehicle traffic and living environments:
  • Inadequate public transit service within the harbourfront area, … means that Montrealers and suburbanites prefer to take their cars when they come to the harbourfront for work or recreation, thereby creating demand for more parking.
  • While there is congestion year round, it is particularly acute during the tourist season from May to September, when traffic is more and more heavy in Old Montreal and toward Parc Jean-Drapeau and the Casino. This puts such enormous pressure on the urban environment (air pollution, noise pollution, bumper to bumper traffic and endless hunting for parking spots), on residents and on green spaces that it is no longer possible to turn a blind eye to it.” (page 4, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)
• “…the 6.5 million players visiting the Casino de Montreal every year generate annual traffic of five million cars along Pierre-Dupuy Avenue and Concorde Bridge, to the great displeasure of Cité du Havre residents and the visitors of the green spaces and parks on Île-Sainte-Hélène and Île Notre-Dame.” (page 68, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “The park’s landscape – development potential has also been severely compromised by the need for roads and parking spaces, as most of the 10 million annual visitors use their vehicles to get to the site.” (page 86, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “This overwhelming emphasis on the automobile puts increasing harmful pressure on the urban environment (residential areas, parks and green spaces and historic heritage).” (page 73, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “This automobile traffic and resulting need for parking put enormous strain on the living environment in Old Montreal and Cité du Havre, the historic district and its fragile heritage buildings and the green spaces of Jean Drapeau Park. During major special events and festivals, Old Montreal and Jean Drapeau Park are literally choked with traffic. Pollution rises to nearly unbearable levels during summer heat waves and periods of smog.” (page 69, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “The Société du Parc des Îles, … in conjunction with Loto-Quebec, should examine possible options for substantially reducing the negative impact of Casino-related motor vehicle traffic on recreational use of Notre-Dame Island.” (page 20, Montreal Harbourfront – Vision 2025)

Regarding Year Round Use

• “Make the harbourfront a lively urban environment year round…” (Société du Havre de Montréal website)

• “… new facilities will be needed to attract users outside the summer season.” (The Harbourfront Newsletter – Volume 1, Number 1)

• “… the harbourfront should be a bustling place all year long…” (Société du Havre de Montréal website)

• “… but rather seeking to better spread the number of users around the territory and outside of the peak season.” (page 110, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “exploring, in this connection, the potential of winter activities so as to better distribute attendance and keep the harbourfront bustling throughout the year, thereby promoting economic vitality of the harbourfront as well as its social and cultural vitality.” (page 110, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

Regarding a South Shore Connection

• “absence of links between the South Shore and the various recreational and cultural destinations in the harbourfront…” (page 70, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

• “Substantially improve access to the harbourfront and the river through the development of public transit…:
  • between downtown and the harbourfront;
  • between the harbourfront and the south shore;” (page 5, Montreal Harbourfront – Assessment of the Situation)

Note: The South Shore connection can be achieved by extending the Montreal Aerial Gondola from Ile Notre Dame to St. Lambert on the South Shore, which we expect to do as Phase 2.