canal de lachine Travaux d'amélioration du canal de Lachine

[Miska]

Les arbres touchent toujours une corde sensible chez les gens.

 

 

Residents decry felling of 70 mature trees along Lachine Canal

Residents near the Lachine Canal say they're outraged that Parks Canada clear cut about 70 mature trees to make way for a new bike path.

Linda Gyulai, Montreal Gazette

Updated: August 24, 2018

Richard Bourhis is seen with a tree stump on the north side of the Lachine Canal in Montreal on Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette

Share Adjust Comment Print

Residents who live near the Lachine Canal say they watched in disbelief as a company working for Parks Canada clear cut a tract of about 70 mature trees during the past week to make way for a new bike path.

“They were beautiful,” said Richard Bourhis, who took photos and alerted his condo neighbours when he spotted crews chopping limbs and an excavator tearing the remaining tree stumps out of the ground between Georges-Vanier Blvd. and Des Seigneurs St. on his morning walk last Thursday.

“It was so sudden that nobody could get together to form a committee and stop them.”

The crews were back to take down more trees on Friday and again this past Tuesday and Wednesday.

Parks Canada announced on Aug. 7 that it will build a one-kilometre-long bike path on the north side of the canal, just east of Atwater Market, to add to the existing network along the waterway. But it didn’t warn that part of the $6-million project involved clear-cutting what is indicated on maps as green space in the continuation of Eclusiers Park.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Tracey Stevens, who lives across the street from where the stands of trees were felled.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me that they would take all those trees down for a bike path. We, as neighbours, had no idea of the plan. Clearing a few bushes, I understand, but these were fabulous trees.”

Bourhis said he’s not against a new bike path, but said the swath that was clearcut is more than 10 times as wide as the future four-metre-wide bike path.

However, Parks Canada, which manages the national historic site, says it has to “remove certain vegetation in the sector, including mature trees” to carry out the project that will “enhance the experience of the visitor to the canal.”

“Parks Canada locations have to combine the interests of environmental protection with those of the visitor’s experience,” agency spokesperson Audrey Godin-Champagne said in a written response.

“The agency successfully manages this integration and works to ensure the ecological integrity of these sites while offering services and enriching experiences for visitors.”

Along with the one-kilometre stretch of new bike path, Parks Canada will construct a building with public washrooms and a gathering area just west of Des Seigneurs as part of the project, Godin-Champagne wrote.

The project is part of $170 million that Parks Canada has announced as upgrades to the Lachine Canal during the next five years.

Of the 70 trees cut down between des Seigneurs and Georges-Vanier, Godin-Champagne wrote, more than one-third were identified by Parks Canada’s experts as “in decline, sick or damaged.”

An environmental impact study was carried out and a biologist visited the site to ensure there were no nests or birds breeding, she also wrote. Parks Canada will plant 114 trees and grass “in places that are judged appropriate” during the next year, she added.

However, Bourhis said he didn’t see any sick trees among the trunks that were piled up on the site. Having lived in the area for 12 years, he said most of the trees “were quite healthy, though many needed proper pruning, which Parks Canada never cared to do between 2006 and 2018.”

“Did you want to get the community involved?” Stevens asked, referring to Parks Canada. “It’s disheartening.”

[Rocco]

Bon, ça pleure encore pour des arbres coupés... Ça devient un sport national à Montréal.

[ScarletCoral]

Sur la page FB du Canal de Lachine : « La nouvelle passerelle Wellington est maintenant installée ? Vous pourrez l'utiliser d'ici quelques jours! »

 

 

[Rocco]

6 minutes ago, ScarletCoral said:

Sur la page FB du Canal de Lachine : « La nouvelle passerelle Wellington est maintenant installée ? Vous pourrez l'utiliser d'ici quelques jours! »

 

 

Ils ont oublié d'ajouter: cette passerelle ne sera jamais entretenue et sera fermée pour remplacement d'ici 5 ans. Bonne utilisation à tous et toutes.

[Moi]

Le 2018-08-07 à 21:29, Rocco a dit :

Cette pratique délinquante est une plaie et les autorités du Canal Lachine auraient dû le savoir et oui, ne pas bêtement refaire un mur en béton blanc immaculé. Il y aurait eu moyen de couler un béton teinté brun, similaire à un béton vieilli, qui aurait sûrement attiré moins l'oeil. Les décideurs ne pensent jamais plus loin que le bout de leur nez. D'ailleurs, les murs refait en béton blanc sont horribles. C'est presque saccager un lieu patrimonial en soit.

Bah techniquement les graffitis sont un crime, alors oui le liens est facile et tout à fait justifié.

[ScarletCoral]

Il y a 5 heures, Rocco a dit :

Ils ont oublié d'ajouter: cette passerelle ne sera jamais entretenue et sera fermée pour remplacement d'ici 5 ans. Bonne utilisation à tous et toutes.

Selon la page FB du canal, l'ancienne passerelle avait été installée dans les années 1970. On semble refaire tout ce qui a été fait dans les années 60 et 70 : Turcot, Champlain...?

[cprail]

Vue du train

[Megafolie]

il y a 9 minutes, cprail a dit :

Vue du train

Hey c'est mon train ça... à moins que ce soit un VIA? ?

Modifié 4 octobre 2018 par Megafolie

[cprail]

45 minutes ago, Megafolie said:

Hey c'est mon train ça... à moins que ce soit un VIA? ?

VIA

[Monsieur_MA]

Cette nouvelle passerelle semble suffisamment large pour que les circulations des vélos et des piétons ne se nuisent pas mutuellement. Souhaitons que Parc Canada aie l'intention de remplacer les autres dans un avenir proche.