Quartier Concordia

[Cyrus]

Me neither, I am there on a daily basis and it is plenty nice, the only real issue is the construction all the time doing the same thing (like tearing up the street at Mackay / de Maisonneuve, it has been like 6 times already), I'm not a fan of the way they re-aligned de Maisonneuve at Guy though, before it worked fine, but now it is traffic chaos, I'll sum it:

 

Previously to turn right (north) onto Guy, you drove on the right of that grassy knoll where Bethune statue was, alongside the Timmy's, and had only a stop sign. To go straight or left you had to stay left of the knoll, and the lane was aligned straight to the other side of the street.

 

Now the street is only one, the extra space of the knoll is now an extra-wide sidewalk on both sides of the street. Aaaah the green space is gone! (LOL)

 

The problem is that the pedestrian traffic is enormous because of Concordia, especially with the new manitoba building. Since now right turn traffic has to cross the crosswalk, and the pedestrian traffic is so high, and the traffic light phasing has a "no turn" phase, and also no right on red in Montreal, only a couple of cars can turn right on a phase. Even outside of rush hour there is a backlog of cars from the light all the way to Mackay.

 

Left turning traffic has the same issue, but it would have been like that regardless of the re-amenagement since the layout is basically the same.

 

The other problem is now the road is not aligned with the other side of Guy. When you go straight, through the middle of de Maisonneuve (between the lineups left and right), which in itself is tricky (roadway too small) on the other side of Guy, you are aimed straight at the sidewalk! Plus, there is always vehicles parked on the RH side next to that sidewalk. So you have to swerve left in the middle of the intersection, but sometimes, traffic on the left side of the road is going straight, so you have to brake or accelerate to not kill someone.

 

And for the pedestrians, the crosswalk is not straight, nor is it marked, so you have some people walking out the middle of Guy to go straight to the corner, and some who walk diagonal, some who walk halfway... n'importe quoi.

 

The stretch of de Maisonneuve past Guy is not modified from the original alignment, except the parking lane on the left is now the bike path (of course). The right of way here is very narrow between the JMSB on one side and the big apartment block on the other, the sidewalks are also pretty narrow and total crap (on the RH side) so I don't see how the City can fix this section to align with the rebuilt section west of Guy.

 

Plus Guy northbound traffic cannot turn left onto de Maisonneuve, if they are lucky, one car can turn left in a cycle, usually right after the light turns red. This would have been the same without the redevelopment though also.

 

It really seems like whoever designed this was not thinking at all about the roadway itself and only how pretty it was or something. The re-aligned road doesn't align properly with the previous section between Mackay and Bishop either, and that section is rather wide, the road goes from being 6 lanes wide to 3 lanes wide to 1 lane wide within two blocks... maybe they should put parking on the left side of that section to reduce this funnelling thing.

Modifié 24 novembre 2010 par Cyrus

[Cataclaw]

There are way too many pedestrians in the area to allow for anything else than the new configuration. Yes, it's tougher for cars to navigate the area, but this comes at the expense of a better pedestrian experience. The much wider sidewalks were an absolute necessity. Given the fact that pedestrians outnumber cars 100:1 in the area, i think pedestrian infrastructure improvements at the cost of road efficiency is the smart thing to do. You go to Concordia.. and you don't agree? The previous configuration required pedestrians to cross two streets instead of one. For pedestrians, the new setup is much, much better.

 

The crosswalks are not marked (yet), but it's coming. This will make it safer for everyone once they are.

 

The folks who designed all these improvements had in mind the huge number of pedestrians, not the cars that go by, which are comparatively far far fewer. So yeah, you're right, the people who designed the area weren't thinking much about the roadway itself, because quite frankly, the roadway here is of secondary importance only. The priority is the pedestrian in this part of town.

 

I know you're real big on cars, Cyrus, but this is not the place in town to prioritize car traffic...

Modifié 24 novembre 2010 par Cataclaw

[Cyrus]

But it doesn't seem to be a better pedestrian experience... as I said it isn't aligned properly... the wider sidewalk is nice, but otherwise...

 

And I mean I cross that intersection on foot probably 50 times for every time I cross it in a car, I drive there but rarely drive in that area.

 

I think to improve the pedestrian flow it could be done a lot better... especially for example just on the side of JMSB building there is always like 1000 people standing waiting for the light or smoking a coffin nail, pedestrian congestion! The building doors are a bit removed from the street, but it isn't quite enough. It would be nice perhaps to put a second set of doors facing de Maisonneuve and maybe push the existing door a bit further south on Guy to move the smokers away from the "through traffic" pedestrians.

 

And probably the worst pedestrian experience is the sinking / broken / slanted / wavy screwed up sidewalk along de Maisonneuve east of the intersection on the north side... that thing should have been redone like 10 years ago...

 

The crossing a second time is not important, as probably at least 80 % maybe 90 % of the foot traffic is going from the Hall to JMSB buildings, either cross earlier or cross later...

 

The real pedestrian advantage is the tunnel, short-term pain for long-term gain surely, especially for metro users and in the winter... pedestrian freeway

Modifié 24 novembre 2010 par Cyrus

[Cataclaw]

What exactly isn't aligned properly?

 

The wider sidewalk accommodates a lot more people. If you think it's congested now, I remember my first semester at Concordia 6 years ago... holy crap was it ever a pain to move around.

 

The pedestrian jam in front of JMSB is an annoyance, you're right about that. They should have gone put the entire first floor removed from the street to give more space... but alas, nobody's perfect. There isn't much that can be done about that though. It's a victim of the physical dimensions of the area. I think eventually they're going to widen that sidewalk from Sainte-Catherine to Maisonneuve, removing the 10 or so parking spaces, and stick Bixi there as well.

 

As for the two streets.. a lot of traffic goes up guy, and not just to the Tim Hortons either. I was at Concordia before all the construction started and during peak hours it was annoying having to cross twice for the cars turning right onto Guy in front of Tim's. It's just an unecessary configuration, plain and simple. If you wanted to get to the statue and enjoy the square, you had to cross streets to do so. Now the statue and the public space is contiguous with the sidewalk network. It's far better like this.

 

And yes to the tunnel. All the tunnels in the area, frankly, are awesome. I just wish the Concordia underground city were connected to the rest of the underground city. One day we'll get there...

[Cyrus]

It is connected, just walk into the metro tunnel and stay close to the wall Oh and don't touch the 3rd rail

[MTLskyline]

A Student Faubourg: Grand Opening 201_?

Former Student Union President Confirms Site of Student Union Building

 

Justin Giovannetti — November 23, 2010

 

Former CSU President Prince Ralph Osei confirmed the Faubourg is the site of the proposed Student Union Building. Photo Riley Sparks

 

The Concordia Student Union Building, should students approve the proposed fee levy this week, will be housed in the Faubourg building at the corner of Guy Street and Ste. Catherine Street West.

 

In September, outgoing CSU President Prince Ralph Osei confirmed with The Link that the shopping mall was the site for the proposed student centre building. This fact has been confirmed with five other officials close to the project.

 

Speaking to students on Wednesday at a lecture by David Bernans in Concordia’s Hall building, councillor Lex Gill revealed that she had been informed of the selection of the Faubourg. The revelation came during a question and answer period following Bernans’ speech.

 

Gonzalo Nieto, a student who is running one of the unofficial No to the Student Centre campaigns, repeated the admission to the audience at a Cinema Politica screening on Thursday.

 

“Honestly, no contract has been signed,” said CSU VP External & Projects Adrien Severyns about the Faubourg. “There are still a few options on the table.”

 

The student union VP reiterated his concern, voiced last week in The Link that revealing the location of the student union building could lead to an increase in the price of the building. Any further increase could make the building unaffordable to students.

 

Real estate professionals contacted about Severyns’ concern disputed his assertion, stating that the risk of this happening was low. The revealing of the building location to large groups of students over the course of the last week also makes the objection to revealing the location unfounded.

 

This is not the first time that the CSU has spoken about purchasing the Faubourg. In 2006, CSU VP Campus Relations Taylor Noakes resigned from the Experience slate in September and disclosed the executive’s hidden history. Along with confirming that Concordia

 

University had interfered in that year’s CSU election, Noakes told The Link that the university was pressuring the CSU to buy the Faubourg as a student union building.

 

Noakes said that Jonathan Wener, a former CSU executive who is head of Canderel Realty and a member of Concordia’s Board of Governors, was one of the main proponents of the acquisition.

 

“[Jonathan Wener] was very insistent that we jump on this project immediately. We received tours of the [Faubourg], the university brought us to a lot of their bullshit functions, it was all, I wouldn’t say a ruse, but you know, ‘Hey guys, you really want to get in on this, and remember if you do get on board, if you do play with the admin, you get to come to all our fancy functions, you get to talk to people, make connections’ … and it’s all bullshit. Categorically, undeniably, nonsense,” Noakes told The Link at the time.

 

A month after Noakes’ defection, CSU President Khaleed Juma told Concordia’s Board of Governors that his administration could not support a student union building in the Faubourg.

 

“The CSU would not have the mandate to agree to a building that does not predominantly give space to students, not yet one that does not belong to the students,” Juma said in October 2006. “A student centre is a 20-year commitment that student representatives cannot walk into lightly. Whilst the Faubourg project may not be ideal, students are still committed to working towards a student centre.”

 

In March 2009, students rejected a fee levy of $2.50 to purchase a student union building, now revealed to have been the Faubourg. That referendum was rejected by 72 per cent of students.

Over the past week, students have shared many of the concerns that Juma raised. With students like Nieto running campaigns against the Faubourg, the student union building referendum will face a tough test.

 

“I was outraged at the fact that they refused to disclose the location before the referendum,” said Nieto. “Especially since there is a past of trying to get this in the Faubourg and students have always shot it down.”

 

Nieto said that the $50 million, 40-year project could do more to separate students from Concordia than unite them.

 

“Where clubs and the CSU are now is a high traffic area,” said Nieto. “Things are integrated right now in the Hall building. This seems like an attempt to separate students from academia.”

 

Under the agreement that governs the proposed student union building, students would share space in the building with Concordia’s administration and with retailers.

 

“Were we to purchase the Faubourg, I would feel that it would be like purchasing a shopping mall due to all the leases that exist in the building,” said Nieto.

 

Currently, 39 retailers operate out of the Faubourg. Some, like the Style Exchange location on Ste. Catherine Street West, signed new multiyear leases recently.

 

With students to vote on the student union building from Nov. 23 to 25, questions about most aspects of the building remain unanswered.

 

—with files from Giuseppe Valiante

 

This article originally appeared in The Link Volume 31, Issue 15, published November 23, 2010.

http://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/738

[TomOfBoston]

It seems that Concordia students want a nice student union building but they don't want to pay for it.

[Cyrus]

It seems that Concordia students want a nice student union building but they don't want to pay for it.

 

I'm ambivalent on the first part but I sure don't want to pay

[MTLskyline]

It is bad enough that we have to pay money to far-left groups like QPIRG, the Centre for Gender Advocacy, and vegan kitchens by default. (If we want to opt out we have to follow these instructions (and opt out of each individually on different dates throughout the term at the offices of these places): http://services.csu.qc.ca/index.php?module=pagesetter&func=viewpub&tid=3&pid=209)

 

I don't want to pay for some student union building that I would never have any reason to use (why do STUDENTS need unions??). On the plus side, it would likely mean that the washrooms in the faubourg would be cleaned up a bit.

[Cataclaw]

Students do need more study and lunch areas, that's a fact. However, I think they should go with the plan from a few years back : build a highrise on the parking lot near the Tim Hortons and connect it to the Concordia underground/tunnels. Much more "central" location for most students.