Archive for the ‘Greenway’ Category

Protecting the falaise St-Jacques

Part of the mission of Les Amis du Parc Meadowbrook is to connect Meadowbook park, through a greenway, to a network of parks, including the falaise St-Jacques. Until recently, many people have only been vaguely aware of the existence of the falaise St-Jacques. Now, with the Turcot Interchange under construction at the bottom of the falaise, this wooded hillside is appearing regularly in the media, and environmental groups are calling for it to be preserved as a key part of a green corridor across the southwest region of Montreal Island.P6180015-1-300x300

Falaise, the French word for cliff, perfectly describes this steep escarpment that stretches four kilometres from the Montreal West Interchange to the Decarie Expressway. Its maple, ash and poplar trees provide shelter to numerous species of migrating and nesting birds, and the woods are home to a rare population of brown snakes.

In the early 1980s, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau wanted to make the falaise into a park, but little came of the idea. The area has been cleaned up several times, saplings planted and the soil stabilized, but after each effort, it has been forgotten.

In 2004, the city described the falaise and Mount Royal as defining characteristics of the island’s landscape. Along with nine other green spaces, it was named an eco-territory, a natural space slated for priority protection and enhancement. Twelve years later, there is no concrete plan to protect it.P6180040-300x300

Last fall, some 165 trees were cut down at its western end to facilitate the Turcot project. The disappearance of those trees set off alarm bells for bird watcher Lisa Mintz, and she founded the group Sauvons la falaise! New trees are supposed to be planted when the highway and rail construction project is complete, but meanwhile, this has put the falaise in the media spotlight, with newspaper and television coverage and intensified calls for its preservation as a green space.

The city has recognized the historic importance of the escarpment as one of the few natural geographic features of the island to have survived relatively

untouched and easily visible over an area of several kilometres.

The falaise is also an important part of a green corridor. A corridor is a habitat, either natural or man-made, that connects isolated green spaces, making them accessible to birds and wildlife. There are green spaces at Meadowbrook, at the falaise, beside the Lachine Canal, in Angrignon Park, around the Douglas hospital and along the banks of the St. Lawrence River. Without the trees of the falaise, the distance between Meadowbrook and these other green spaces would be too great.

photos: Andy Riga

photo: Andy Riga

Recently, the Conseil régional de l’environnement de Montréal (CRE-Montréal), Les Amis du Parc Meadowbrook, Sierra Club Quebec, the Green Coalition, Sauvons la falaise! and seven  other community and environmental groups formed a new committee to pressure Transport Quebec to make the Turcot area accessible to Montrealers who want to walk or cycle across the rail tracks and highway, linking NDG with the Lachine Canal, Ville Émard and LaSalle. Planning maps from 2010 and 2012 showed a green overpass (dalle-parc) between the Lachine Canal and NDG. This bridge seems to have been eliminated from current plans.

These groups also noted that a planned walking and cycling path at the bottom of the falaise will only have two access points, one at each end of the escarpment, and they suggested this could present safety problems to users.

Les Amis du Parc Meadowbrook and these other groups will be monitoring the Turcot project closely to ensure promises to protect the falaise are kept.


More links from our web page

Andy Riga’s links, including a history of the falaise and his blog about hiking the woods

Press release issued by CRE-Montreal

Gazette article about the above press release

Gazette editorial about the falaise

Andy Riga’s 2016 article about the falaise:

All of Andy’s stuff plus pictures is available here:

Written by: Janice Hamilton

Presentations about Meadowbrook during Montreal’s public consultation

Thank you to those who took the time to draft and present briefs to the commission at city hall for the public consultation on the Montreal urban agglomeration and land use development plan. This plan will serve as a reference for city planning and decision-making by our councillors and mayor. Many briefs mentioned Meadowbrook, an indication of the significant interest in this plot of nature and of its importance to Montreal citizens.

If you missed the presentations please check out the briefs about Meadowbrook below:

  1. Elizabeth Cooper
  2. Clayton SymonFall Tree Meadowbrook Sept 2014.Nigel Dove
  3. Jochen Jaeger and Megan Deslauriers
  4. Anna Symon 
  5. Deborah Hayek
  6. Patricia Rachofsky
  7. Les Amis du Parc Meadowbrook
  8. Deanne Delaney
  9. Malcolm Lewis-Richmond 
  10. Lisa Mintz 
  11. Nigel Dove (présentation)
  12. Ville  de Côte Saint-Luc
  13. Cymry Gomery
  14. Daniel Boulerice

Many presenters included Meadowbrook as part of a broader interest in Montreal’s green spaces:

  1. Héritage Laurentien
  2. Al Hayek 
  3. Patrick Asch
  4. Linda Besner (présentation)
  5. Sue Stacho
  6. David Fletcher
  7. Save the Park – Patrick Barnard
  8. Pierre Marcoux
  9. Tom Schwalb
  10. Green Coalition
  11. Protection des oiseaux du Québec
  12. Le regroupement des citoyens de Saraguay
  13. Sierra Club Québec
  14. Projet Montréal
  15. Conseil régional de l’environnement de Montréal
  16. Nina Gould
  17. Donald Hobus
  18. Irwin Rapoport

These presentations addressed green or natural spaces, urban sprawl, and route verte for cycling:

  1. Coalition Montréalaise des Tables de Quartier 
  2. Comité de sauvegarde du patrimoine bâti et naturel Desmarchais-Crawford de Verdun
  3. Naghmeh Nazarniafox1.Jo_Ann_Goldwater
  4. Regroupement des éco-quartiers
  5. Solidarité Saint-Henri
  6. Catherine Chabot
  7. Sonja Susnjar, Tracy Arial
  8. Vélo-Québec
  9. Les amis du parc Angrignon
  10. Centre d’écologie urbain de Montréal
  11. Éco-quartier du Sud-Ouest
  12. Espaces verts et milieux naturalisés Golf Meadowbrook
  13. Les amis de la montagne
  14. Rayside Labossière et Tous pour l’aménagement du Centre-Sud
  15. Tous pour l’aménagement du Centre-Sud (présentation)
  16. Association pour la Protection du Bois Angell (APBA)
  17. Mouvement Ceinture Verte

All the briefs that were presented to the commission can be found at the Montreal City Portal.

Resume des donnees principales concernant le terrain Meadowbrook

Pour lire cliquez ici:  Resume_des_donnees principales concernant le terrain Meadowbrook