(Paris) The Port of Montreal will agree to settle down a little, south of the city center, to allow the Plante administration to carry out its projects on the banks of the St. Lawrence.
This is what the big boss of the port authority, Martin Imbleau, assured on Friday in an interview with La Presse.
“We are quite open to moving some of our facilities near the head office to [accommodate], for example, many more bike paths and have better integration,” he said, seated at the residence of the Ambassador of Canada in Paris.
Mr. Imbleau was in Paris to meet with French partners, in the context of Valérie Plante’s European tour. The Mayor also ratified an international agreement, already signed by the Port, which underlines the importance of collaboration between cities and ports all over the planet.
The Plante administration, precisely, is carrying out two major projects very close to the port facilities: the creation of a neighborhood of at least 7,600 housing units in the Bridge-Bonaventure sector and the transformation into a linear park of the shore of the St. currently the Bonaventure Expressway. Ottawa wants to rebuild the artery further from the river.
Referring to Pierre-Dupuy Avenue – the strip of land where Habitat 67 is located and which should accommodate hundreds of new housing units as part of the Bridge-Bonaventure development -, “today, it is an alley that does not pay no mine,” continued the CEO. “There is a project in the pipeline to greatly improve – by us and by the City – the infrastructure, to beautify the area and enhance the port. »
Valérie Plante welcomed this opening of the Port of Montreal.
“It demonstrates the openness that the Port of Montreal has to work with the City. That’s what I want to do too: work with our major economic partners to find solutions when there are issues of cohabitation, for example,” she said.
The mayoress, who often reiterates her desire to give back their river to Montrealers, needs the collaboration of the port authority to carry out her projects. “They invested and they were there for the East Beach, the land in that area. There are still possibilities to have other grounds, she continued. This will not be the last time that we will work with the Port on the question of access to the banks. »
Martin Imbleau acknowledged that the Port of Montreal did not care enough in the past about its relationship with the population around it. “A port, historically, was developed for commercial needs,” he said. It was necessary, but today it is not enough. We have to think holistically, we have to be at the service of citizens. »
