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SKYMTL

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Tout ce qui a été posté par SKYMTL

  1. SKYMTL
    Over the last few weeks I have seen them taking soil samples with drilling machines along the 40 West service road all the way between Fairview and the Famous Players in Kirkland.
  2. SKYMTL
    Crazy question but what is that thing sitting on below the waterline? I'm guessing some kind of piles driven into bedrock?
  3. SKYMTL
    Proof this project is scrubbed, on indefinite hold or modified? Seems the Ericsson buildings won't be torn down at all and instead will be leased by the MUHC: http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/future-location-of-muhc-headquarters-to-pose-traffic-headaches
  4. SKYMTL
    If I'm not mistaken this will be right next to the CCQ building? I can't imagine the quality of life to be that good for folks in these living units. This is right next to the Met.
  5. SKYMTL
    There is a small forest of tower cranes going up in Vaudreuil. 3 so far and it looks like platforms for another two. I'm pretty sure there are two for this project but not sure what the other two right next to them are for.
  6. SKYMTL
    Really, so all of those factors make this kind of abomination OK? Really? These designs would like a word with you: http://www.archdaily.com/787877/nursing-home-atelier-du-pont http://www.archdaily.com/553442/senior-center-of-guangxi-atelier-alter http://www.archdaily.com/3959/de-plussenburgh-arons-en-gelauff-architecten It seems like far too often we simply GIVE UP on the architectural / human component of these projects just because they are geared towards a certain demographic. It shouldn't be about "well, it's good enough for seniors". Design should be thinking about "how do we do it better?". The design of this building is more about surrender rather than thinking about innovation through an affordable yet forward-looking design. It doesn't matter if a building is for seniors, children, business people....or whether it is downtown or in the backwoods of L'Estrie. Design matters and this thing is an insult to anyone living there.
  7. SKYMTL
    Good lord. They tried this in the early 70's with the ghettos in London. Nothing new and still disgusting.
  8. SKYMTL
    International collaboration on a project = AWESOME! International collaboration + Quebec construction practices = Potential disaster.
  9. SKYMTL
    Primary engineering was done by Arup's office in Toronto while designs were handled by Dissing+Weitling. I have a friend who works at Provencher Roy and their involvement was quite minimal on the engineering side. To me this is an international collaboration of pretty epic proportions. :)
  10. SKYMTL
    Great, but what isn't taken into account in your comment is time to completion of these hypothetical projects versus population growth. These urban boulevard approaches lean too heavily upon the thought of public transport and don't take into account some very basic factors: 1) While TOD projects and other population expansion developments can initiate an uptick in generalized public transport usage, there will invariably be a large proportion of any "new" population who will decide to take their cars. Restricting road capacity and causing frustration for users doesn't push car users to public transport; they just find alternate routes which in turn causes additional congestion or dangers. A great example of this is the idiotic decision to not allow left turns onto Henri Bourassa during rush hour in certain areas. Instead of "forcing" people to larger arteries, they simply go straight, head through a residential zone and then double back to turn right instead. The increase in traffic in those residential streets is a clear danger as evidenced by the speedbumps the city has begun to install. Pimping this as a potential bike path is patently ridiculous as well since there would be no bike paths actually feeding INTO it. 2) People don't want to cross NINE lanes of traffic to enter a slimline park which is centered between two major boulevards. The green space looks nice on renderings but without an incentive to congregate in the area, my whole "barren wasteland" comment comes into play. A great example of this is the embarrassing "green space" that serves as an entrance to Park Extension on the south side of St Laurent near the Met. https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.5416102,-73.641324,3a,75y,95.23h,88.7t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgPDoLj2DFqunIRm1lhgplw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en . No one walks through it as evidenced by the worn grass along its edges and those "mountains" have become ugly, littered things that are a complete eyesore. I say forget about the green space and look into a convertible yet contained commons area like so many northern European cities have; a public market in the summer months with a shuttle bus service from nearby parking areas and a heated Christmas market around the winter months.
  11. SKYMTL
    Horrible and really deceiving. Not only will this cause traffic nightmares but mark my words; that "park" in the center will become a barren no-mans-land filled with weeds, unkept grass and bums within a year. "Grand Entrance".....yeah right.
  12. SKYMTL
    What a bloody joke....
  13. SKYMTL
    I'm a cynic but I have to admit there's a buzz around Montreal these days. However, there's more to it than just announcing these projects....we have to get the RIGHT. As the author said, you don't want to give areas of the city a facelift only to kill the patient. The same thing goes for all these infrastructure projects like Turcot, Champlain Bridge, etc; they need to be planned and executed in a way rarely seen in this city. In other words, we need more "on time and on budget" projects and less Dorval Circles.
  14. SKYMTL
    Any idea why they are keeping the 20 -> 136 junction after the turnoff for the Champlain Bridge at 2 lanes? Seems like it won't do a thing to improve the current traffic situation. It also looks like nothing has been done to improve the width of the right / left break-down lanes.
  15. SKYMTL
    I think this is pretty alarmist as well. We can't forget that in today's world "head offices" are increasingly nebulous things and the term itself is bordering on outdated. These days a company can be based out of someone's home with satellited offices scattered around the world without negatively affecting productivity. The days of massive 2000+ employee offices is quickly becoming a dinosaur of a bygone era and is being replaced with community workspaces, short term rental pop-up offices and other venues. Its THOSE industries we should be fostering, not massive multinationals. Seattle is a good example of this approach. It holds very few large head offices but thousands of start-up companies are registered there due to their friendly policies for younger, less established enterprises.
  16. SKYMTL
    In the dark provided all the lights are on at the same time.
  17. SKYMTL
    2018 for everything. Election year anyone?
  18. SKYMTL
    Culture is important since ours is very European-centric. For comparison, on a per-capita basis, Toronto and Vancouver (both very multi-ethnic / multi-cultural cities) receive significantly more tourists than Montreal, though we are still among the best in the world in this metric. This points towards tourists increasingly looking towards multi-cultural (and comparatively inexpensive) North American cities for their "culture fix". That's an interesting metric which was covered recently in the NYT.
  19. SKYMTL
    True but both Alstom and Siemens meet that Canadian Content rule as well. Siemens is of particular interest since they've developed a number of light rail systems for cold climate situations in Finland and Norway.
  20. SKYMTL
    Well what we do know is whatever building this is, it will be higher than the hotel next door. The crane has a jacking section so it can rise even higher than its current position. If it would be a one-height deal, they wouldn't have installed that section.
  21. SKYMTL
    Brings to mind a quote: Jack of all trades, master of none. Adding an old age home into this is an odd decision at best.
  22. SKYMTL
    There's also the conflict of interest angle on this as well. - Who is to say the Caisse won't push to have stations located closer to Ivanhoe Cambridge properties - With the Caisse having a major stake in Bombardier Transport, they could influence the process to favor them - Same thing goes for large engineering firms like the article said: SNC, Tecsult & Roche, etc. The Caisse is a large investor in them. If we go by the regulations in laid out in Bill 1, Bombardier, SNC, Kiewit and quite a few others would be barred from even bidding on this project.
  23. SKYMTL
    Idiotic column of the day but so typical of today's online-focused media. Baseless title backed up by absolutely zero facts of knowledge of the situation: http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/andrew-coyne-funding-government-projects-through-public-pension-plans-a-terrible-idea Premise: Using pension plans for infrastructure partnerships is a terrible idea! Why is it a terrible idea? According to the column....well, just BECAUSE. Trust them! Who cares about their reasoning or the fact that the Caisse is one of the most successful Pension arms in the world or the fact they have proven to be very well managed under Sabia, etc. Nope, just throw out these claims in a dismissive 900 word snip-it that would have been laughed under the table a decade ago for being junk journalism.
  24. SKYMTL
    100% agree. Bombardier has completely messed up the last few infrastructure projects they've dealt with. The situations got so bad that London and Toronto are both pursuing legal action against the company. I understand this is a "chez nous" thing but for a project like this, its important we choose the RIGHT partners rather than the politically expedient ones. Another concern I have is budget. Given the scale relative to the $2 billion Canada Line, current FX variance, inflation and the "in Quebec all public projects cost more" tax, I'm going to go out on a limb and say the REM will be closer to a $7B project once all is said and done or there will have to be some pretty major sacrifices (IE: no / limited indoor stations, truncated car size, etc.).
  25. SKYMTL
    Proof positive that if there's a feeding trough, there's always pigs trying to force their way in.... And I agree, the Blue Line extension shouldn't even be on the books considering that whatever the AMT touches turns to massive cost overruns. They need to get their crap together before putting out their hands for more money.
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