The lockout at the Journal de Montréal is going to have a parliamentary commission at the beginning of February, after its second birthday. Inquiries will be made into strikebreaking tactics by Quebecor.
Fagstein posted a long blog entry yesterday recapping events, discussing Quebecor’s war on the CBC and Radio-Canada, taking in the whole scab issue, and assessing the whole thing in the wider context of traditional mass media’s decline in the face of web competition.
Vision Montreal’s going to vote against the Tremblay budget, and so is Projet, both parties saying that the planned tax hikes have the effect of driving families off the island.
Users with disabilities expressed dissatisfaction with the metro system’s inaccessibility today at city hall, pointing out that at the current rate of elevator retrofitting, it will be 2085 before all the existing stations are made wheelchair accessible. Only six stations have elevators now – and three of those are in Laval. The STM’s original promise to do three stations per year has bogged down in the inevitable budget compressions.
I think the worst is, that its installed and they don’t even let ppl use it! It took ages for the STM to build the elevators at Cote-Vertu and now they are all closed. That is just ridiculous.
I’m with Stefan here. Part of the problem may be that STM stations use two side plattforms rather than one island plattform — which makes it necessary to install at least two rather than one elevator. The depth of stations, and the need to have turnstiles makes the process more difficult.
At 10M$ per station, one would really expect that the elevators are installed as part of adding a second exit to stations — which would increase the area each station can reach, and add a layer of safety.
A Spacing writer asks which is this city’s most iconic intersection and defends his choice of Ste-Catherine at the Main.
I think that may have been it, once. The E.Z. Massicotte image above shows how prosperous and well regarded it once was. It feels like a long time now even since it was the home of punks and prostitutes.
I can’t easily come up with an alternative, though. Maybe where McGill College comes down to Ste-Catherine, and the Place Ville-Marie Christmas tree twinkles over the scene?
I think that’s the Old Brewery at the center of the shot, making that St-Laurent and St-Antoine. More than well-regarded (there’s no date, but the areas around Victoria and Viger squares were the bougie residential nodes around 1890-1910), it was just really teeming with commerce and activity. Smaller businesses, smaller premises, but more of them and more workers coming and going.
Montreal doesn’t do iconic spots as much as it does iconic districts, corridors, sheets of urban fabric. It’s a lot harder to distill into a single signifier or put on a postcard.
That was my first reflex too, but both buildings on the corners of St-Antoine et Ste-Catherine look very similar except for those small brick rectangles between the windows. Plus the hill goes down toward that building which is more consistent with St-Antoine than Ste-Catherine.
Hmm, OK. I’ve definitely seen pictures of the right intersection – let me do some digging.
A friend said he read my link as “most ironic intersection” and I’ve been wondering what that could be. I’ve always found some irony, or maybe just comedy, in the fact that Wolfe and Montcalm streets are next to each other, but they’re parallel…
DC’s nailed it, for sure.
The BANQ web site’s a bit too retarded to divulge a direct link to this picture, but if you click the link below, then “Voir les image(s)”, then the second thumbnail down on the pane on the right, you should get a nice street level view of Saint-Laurent looking north at Saint-Antoine from about 100 years ago, very similar to the one above. So I hope, anyway.
As for iconic Montreal street corners, I hate to say it, but the Americanization of rue Sainte-Catherine has pretty much killed all the classic ones off.
Probably unnecessary to repeat, but DC is correct; that’s St. Laurent and Saint Antoine. The similar building at St. Laurent and Ste. Catherine is one storey lower than this one. But the real giveaway is the upward slope in the foreground. St. Laurent does not slope upward when you go south of Ste. Catherine. But when you go south of St. Antoine there is an upward slope.
not only wheelchairs benefit but also those of us with a stroller (now even it’s carrying up and down for many stations) or those in a hurry.
if an elevator can be fitted such that it connects directly from street level to the platform (i.e. with pass through an extra, accessible-adapted, turnstile) one can pass a lot faster than navigating through the stairways and tunnels (the viennese metro system shows that this will pass you through much faster). it depends on what is located directly above the platform on street level though to be feasible.
lionel-groulx is not a good example for retrofitting – you have to navigate 3 (i think) separate elevators (and find them first).
in my opinion, making public transport fun, efficient to use (and also for an as large segment of the population as possible) is the key for making the switch from car use (much more than a lower ticket price). a broader clientele who wants elevators could also put more pressure.
on another note, i think currently users with disabilities use the stm’s adapted-bus service which no doubt is subsidized and taking up funds of which part could be freed once there are more elevators …
to compare the retrofitting programme in vienna:
1995-2004 (over 9 years), 35 elevators for 24 stations, eur 47m (~cad $60-70m). while this is $2.5-$3m per station, m. rotrand (stm and union montreal) estimates $10-$15m for the same.
this price difference makes me wonder – especially because in vienna there were also many additional expenses in the construction because many stations/buildings are landmarked.
$10m elevators??? vive la transparence!