St-Henri’s touch of Holland

The southwest borough imports the woonerf to make one neighbourhood a little more pedestrian-friendly

Photo by WILL LEW

HOW GREEN WAS MY ALLEY: Woonerf site currently (top) and projected (bottom)

The area around St-Rémi and St-Ambroise in Montreal’s Southwest borough is an unsightly shade of industrial greyness punctuated by graffiti, and accessorized by a creepy tunnel and a traffic inter­section of doom. So naturally, it’d be the perfect spot for a woonerf. First created in the Netherlands in the 1970s, a woonerf—also known as a “living street”—prioritizes pedestrians, cyclists and landscaping over cars. The concept has spread across Europe but is rare in North America. “It’s the idea of greening space and making the space more wel­coming to citizens,” says borough councillor Véronique Fournier.

The woonerf is the borough’s response to the St-Pierre sewer main creating an urban heat island, meaning the area is significantly hotter than the rest of St-Henri. In 2009, the borough proposed the idea to the Quebec government and in turn, its proposal became part of the province’s Climate Change Action Plan. After receiving a $707,000 grant from the Institut national de santé publique and earmarking $1.2­million of the borough’s own money for the project, the borough broke ground on it earlier this month.

The woonerf zone runs the course of an alleyway between Ste-Marie and St-Ambroise (north-south) and de Courcelle and Côte-St-Paul (east-west)—an area better known as the former St-Pierre river and current rain and waste-water sewer. (It’s also right behind my new apartment.) Approximately 555 metres long and between 17 and 27 metres wide depending on where you’re standing, the borough’s mock-ups depict the future woonerf as an urban paradise where children frolic and people have picnics.

“If we can improve the quality of life of citizens, the woonerf is a great way to do it,” Fournier says. Residents were included in the planning process, she adds. Letters were sent and two public consulta­tions were held, at which borough officials heard residents’ concerns about parking, accessibility and safety.

The woonerf will accommodate those with backyard parking spots, allowing them to access them by driving along the edges on reinforced grass, which will even get plowed in the winter. Given the reputation of the neighbourhood, the woonerf will also be well-lit—but not too bright so as to avoid causing light pollution—to dissuade nefarious activities. The woonerf will be capped by two parks on either end that will provide spaces for exercising: the Centre Gadbois on the western border and the future Lac-à-la-Loutre park to the east. “We need to make sure the woonerf responds to the community’s needs,” she says.

By the time all stages of the woonerf are completed, it should be a grassy thoroughfare with a community garden and couple hundred trees accessible to pedestrians, cyclists and local motorists at all times of day. The first phase, slated to begin this spring, will include resurfacing and electrifying the woonerf, as well as planting trees toward the end of the summer. The second phase (2013) will see the installation of benches, water fountains and picnic tables and the final phase (2014) will result in the creation of a community garden. Fournier says the city also intends to re-plan the dan­gerous intersection at St-Ambroise and St-Rémi.

With the Dutch-like attention to detail, it’s no surprise the project was heralded as an example of green practices in urban development at last summer’s Ecocity World Summit, coincidentally held in Mon­treal. But of course, it mustn’t be too good to be true—the area’s residents can also expect a new condo project slated for construction on St-Ambroise, at St-Rémi. ■

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