Untangling the Pine-Parc interchange

Anyone who has ever negotiated the Pine-Parc ave. intersection as a pedestrian is well aware of the car-dodging risks involved in trying to get to the other side. The tangle of spaghetti-like concrete overpasses and underpasses poses a threat to pedestrians and cyclists, and is a blight on the Mount Royal landscape.

What to do? A study conducted by McGill architecture students proposes to untangle the interchange and convert it into a simple intersection with traffic lights. The plan would cost $5.4 million, but would also create a lucrative opportunity for city hall to cash in on some real estate development. The simplified intersection would open up a new plot of land-one with a coveted view of Mount Royal, ripe for some fancy-schmancy condo development.

The study, first made public almost five years ago, has so far failed to make it onto city hall's agenda. But community paper Place Publique is hoping to galvanize support for the plan among candidates running in the municipal election.

"We're counting on local city councillors to make this happen," said Alan Knight, the architecture professor who supervised the study. Thus far, city hall hopefuls Shawn Rosengarten, Helen Fotopulos, Arminda Mota, Carolle Piché-Burton, Maria Teresa Hillar and Louise Boyne have all pledged to implement the plan should they be elected.

-Dominique Ritter