The latest road changes to the area around the MUHC superhospital are planning to create permanent alterations to a six-spoked intersection east of the Vendome metro station.
The city of Montreal wants to permanently close Upper Lachine road between Decarie Blvd. and Prud'homme Ave and turn the area around the train tracks into parkland.
"We will have a living space. It will be very green with trees, with plants, with chairs," said Alain Tasse, an Executive Committee member of the City of Montreal.
"This will become a very pleasing place to walk through, to cycle through, even to live here."
Drivers, pedestrians and cyclists have long complained about the current intersection and the ongoing detours caused by the construction of the MUHC superhospital, including the displacement of train tracks and upgrading of sewer systems, power lines and water mains.
The city says the best way to alleviate that problem is to eliminate the Upper Lachine connection, and send people to alternate routes like de Maisonneuve Blvd. or Decarie Blvd.
Critics say it's not a very good idea, especially since Transport Quebec will be removing and replacing the St. Jacques St bridge over the Decarie Expressway next year.
That will leave people in the St. Raymond area with no alternative except to head north along Girouard Ave. to Sherbrooke St., an intersection that has been subject to very long delays for most of the past few years.
Borough councillor Peter McQueen is asking the city to rethink its plan, at to, at the very least, delay implementing it until St. Jacques St. reopens in 2015.
