MONTREAL - A strip of neglected coastline in the city’s east end will soon be transformed into a good place to splash around and sit with a blanket and a book on a sunny day, thanks to an injection of cash into the river reclamation project.
The borough of RDP-PAT has committed $1.4 million into a project to build a beach on the St. Lawrence near 94th and Bellerive in Pointe-aux-Trembles, not far from the eastern tip of the island.
The beach at the old marina was first proposed in 2008 and won’t be completed this year, as planning should continue until September.
RDP-PAT Mayor Chantal Rouleau has proven to be a strong proponent of the plan and other such coastline reclamation projects.
Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume is also a fan and even came down from the provincial capital to attend a press conference last week.
“If every city along the river would do that, we would have a lot more tourism here,” Labeaume told CTV Montreal.
Relatively few currently spend time at that spot on the waterside but the occasional amateur fisherman will stand and try his luck with his lure and line.
Several locals interviewed by CTV Montreal suggested that they’d prefer to be absolutely sure that the water is cleaned up before venturing in, however.
