by PATRICK LEJTENYI

Sometimes pipe dreams do come true. Take, for example, the project proposed last week that would cover up the ugly gash that separates Old Montreal from Chinatown, the Ville-Marie autoroute. The idea of camouflaging the trench between the Place d'Armes and Champ-de-Mars metro stops - about half a kilometre of open-air traffic and exhaust fumes - has been bandied about for years, but the recent proposal, put forward by Robert Libman, borough mayor of Hampstead–

Côte-St-Luc and the city's executive committee member responsible for urban planning, architecture and development, apparently has legs. The project could be a go, this time for real.

Libman's proposal was, in fact, a pre-feasibility study that stated that if the trench were covered up, it could be a long-term cash cow for the city based on the property taxes and sale of the land to private developers for housing. The total estimated $200-million bill (which is hotly debated - the cost of these kinds of works, especially in Quebec, have a history of spiralling out of control), which will be paid over 20 years, will recoup itself in half that time.

"The project will generate initial returns of 75 per cent of the total cost, based on the sale of the land," says Libman. "Then there will be an additional $4-million to $9-million a year in additional revenue based on property taxes." The swing in tax revenue, he says, depends on the amount the federal and provincial governments contribute to the project.

The project envisages some 1,800 units being built on the new land, and Libman says that between 30 and 40 per cent of those will be classified as low-income housing.

That makes the project a lot more palatable for people like Gaëtan Roberge, who works with Alerte Centre-sud, a local community organization that advocates social housing. The economic spin-offs, and the increased population, would, he feels, help revitalize the neighbourhood. "When we talk about covering the autoroute, we're talking about giving more space to citizens rather than drivers," he says. "In the past, thousands of residents, businesses and factories were razed for mega-projects like the autoroute and the CBC building. This would be a good way of giving the space back to people."

But not everyone is convinced things will be rosy once the project is under way. Pierre Gaudreau, a coordinator with RAPSIM, a homeless advocacy group, worries that the new, well-heeled residents will come into conflict with the clients of the two large homeless shelters in the area, the Old Brewery Mission and L'Acceuil Bonneau.

"For me, the project presents some pretty big questions," he says. "I'm not sure it's going to help people who don't already have housing or a roof over their heads. Are they a priority?"

And while he is aware that there will be a social housing component to the project, he does wonder what the future holds for the area's homeless. "There is a worry that there will be a social clash," he says.