Les voies d'accès au mont Royal (Camillien-Houde / Remembrance)

Camillien-Houde/Remembrance Road should allow access from either side to all areas of the mountain: the lookout, Smith House and parking lot, Beaver Lake and parking lot, both cemeteries, and St-Joseph’s Oratory.
All users of the mountain should be considered, including individuals who walk, cycle or bus up, those who need to go by car (families, groups of friends, clubs, the elderly, the handicapped) and those who go by car because they have less time (tourists, those in Montreal on business).
Olmsted designed the park with a carriage way for the vehicles of his day. Camillien-Houde was designed for the vehicles of the present day.
People who are handicapped or taking plants to a gravesite at the Mount Royal Cemetery are not necessarily able to walk the distance from the Beaver Lake parking lot.
Camillien-Houde/Remembrance Road is a beautiful relaxed drive for residents and tourists contributing to their psychological well-being, reducing traffic in the surrounding neighbourhoods, and causing less air pollution because it takes less time and entails less stopping and starting than the drive north or south of the mountain.
Changes to the road should be gradual, starting with traffic-calming design to solve many of the problems of speed, U-turns, accidents, etc. and to discourage, without preventing, through traffic.
Prolong the center barrier all the way between the lookout and Avenue Mont Royal.
Add a barrier between the car and bicycle lanes.
Add a turnaround place at the bottom.
Add parking lots adjacent to the mountain for walkers and cyclists.

Je ne suis pas en faveur de la fermeture définitive du Camillien Houde à la circulation de transit, bien que certaines mesures puissent être prises pour décourager les excès de vitesse. La montagne devrait être ouverte à nous tous qui vivons à Montréal et il faut reconnaître que beaucoup d'entre nous (familles, personnes âgées, personnes handicapées) ne pouvons y accéder qu'en utilisant une voiture. Pour l'été, la montagne a été pratiquement fermée pour la plupart des habitants de l'Ouest. Le stationnement au lac des Castors est tout simplement trop petit, donc pour avoir accès au reste du parc Montroyal, ou pour visiter le Belvedere, il est nécessaire de se rendre jusqu'au stationnement de la Maison Smith via Côte Ste Catherine, ce qui ajoute à la pollution . La facilité d'accès aux deux stationnements pour TOUS les résidents, de l'est et de l'ouest, est essentielle. Dans le passé, c'était une plaisir de voir les familles entières se stationer à proximité d'un pique-nique ou de voir des personnes âgées se promener du stationnement de la Maison Smith au Belvedere. Le parc ne devrait pas être uniquement pour les sportifs, mais pour tous, y compris ceux qui doivent utiliser une voiture et ne peuvent pas marcher loin.

Je ne suis pas en faveur de la fermeture définitive du Camillien Houde à la circulation de transit, bien que certaines mesures puissent être prises pour décourager les excès de vitesse. La montagne devrait être ouverte à nous tous qui vivons à Montréal et il faut reconnaître que beaucoup d'entre nous (familles, personnes âgées, personnes handicapées) ne pouvons y accéder qu'en utilisant une voiture. Pour l'été, la montagne a été pratiquement fermée pour la plupart des habitants de l'Ouest. Le stationnement au lac des Castors est tout simplement trop petit, donc pour avoir accès au reste du parc Montroyal, ou pour visiter le Belvedere, il est nécessaire de se rendre jusqu'au stationnement de la Maison Smith via Côte Ste Catherine, ce qui ajoute à la pollution . La facilité d'accès aux deux stationnements pour TOUS les résidents, de l'est et de l'ouest, est essentielle. Dans le passé, c'était une plaisir de voir les familles entières se stationer à proximité d'un pique-nique ou de voir des personnes âgées se promener du stationnement de la Maison Smith au Belvedere. Le parc ne devrait pas être uniquement pour les sportifs, mais pour tous, y compris ceux qui doivent utiliser une voiture et ne peuvent pas marcher loin.

The Camelien-Houde road must remain available to motorists in order to allow all citizens to continue to enjoy the mountain. This is every Montrealer’s right, including those who are elderly, have small children and those who have limited mobility.
The mountain road from east to west is our heritage. Protect our unique history and urban evolution.
There are ways to ensure the safety of cyclists without removing access for others. Do not block this important east west route. And do not compare this unique park road to examples in the US which are not alike.

To your questions, your urban planners and designers must listen carefully to the responses, formulate solutions and propose ideas for response by the stakeholders.

It is not realistic to expect a wide range of the population or those with special interests to provide adequate solutions. Is there a concensus that there is a problem?
Consultation is only the first step.
Take the correct steps. This is important.

The idea of closing the road to access the mountain was one of the worst ideas this city made.Not only was the traffic a nightmare on Doctor-Penfield ,butt also on De la Montagne,Drummond and Stanley .I live on the corner of Sherbrooke and de la Montagne It took me sometimes 10 min to drive down the street from Doctor Penfield.
All this idling of cars do you not think that this pollutes the air more than cars driving over the mountain?
The death of a child must be the worst that can happen to a parent.The death of the cyclist on the Camillien-Houde was tragic and senseless .The speed limit is 40km down the mountain I respect this but 8 out of 10 cyclists do not.They zoom down at 60-70 km at least make a U turn at the bottom and start up again.You can close all the roads in Montreal but unless cyclists get regulated there will be many more deaths.
I came home last night at 10.30Pm turning into my App.driveway and a cyclist with no markings on him, no helmet, no light crosses me on the sidewalk.He came out of nowhere .I had looked left and then right did not see anyone and then he came down speeding on the sidewalk from the left side.I missed him by a thread.
I grew up in Europe and I am familiar with a biking mentality but not what is happening in Montreal.They have no respect for pedestrians nor cars .Go through red lights.
There is a bike path on de Maisonneuve why do they have to be on Sherbrooke Street and be a danger to everybody including themselves.One has 13 sec to cross on Crescent and Sherbrooke but 10 out of 10 times if there is a cyclist he goes through a red light. You give tickets to pedestrians . So why a car drivers punished for wanting to go to work or admire the view and cross the mountain.What about all the people that had a terrible time accessing the cemetery .This summer I walked the mountain only a couple of times as it was so difficult to park .You are taking away the joy of living in this city It has became a horror.With all the senseless opening and closing the same roads instead of finishing what is started .
The idea of closing Mc Gill College and making St.Catherine into 1 lane is another brainless endeavour that will kill businesses and the downtown core
We are a city with 6 Months of Winter we need cars and ample parking .Not everybody wants to or can be a cyclist .

Transit traffic:
- permit all year and enforce a speed limit of 25 km/ hour.
Park road:
- created for all users to access the park and Mount Royal Cemetery.
- speed bumps along the road to limit the speed, even for some cyclists who use road for their racing practice .
Sharing the road:
- install speed bumps throughout; if not feasible, then an east-west cement road barrier throughout the road.
- install minimum one traffic light.
Public Transport:
- not feasible presently, take several bus/metro connections to arrive to mountain. E.g. I live in NDG, have limited mobility and use a cane: I go from home to bus stop 51, then transfer to 66 bus, transfer again to take Mount Royal bus; takes almost two hours to get to mountain that normally takes 20 minutes by car to visit my parents' graves at the Mount Royal Cemetery. To reach the entrance by bus, would take another 30 minutes to walk to their graves.
Universal Accessibility:
- restricting to cyclists and pedestrians is very limiting to visit park and Cemetery; current situation does not address universal accessibility.
- there are sufficient paths within park for cyclists and pedestrians.
New Layout for roadway:
- create bike paths along the road with cement barrier.
- access to Mount Royal cemetery should not be restricted to vehicles: Both my parents are buried at Mount Royal cemetery and it has become very disruptive to access the cemetery.

I have been upset with the road closure on Mount Royal since it’s inception.

I believe that the road should stay open to through traffic permanently.

The mountain has always been accessible to all and closed occasionally for special events like a bike race or walk-a-Thon.

The closure reduced traffic dramatically - that’s true - but it also reduced usage of our beautiful mountain dramatically because thousands decided not to use it at all because of the hassle and concern over where they would put their car and let’s not forget, if you are coming from the west, forget about going to the lookout or just passing buy it on the way east.

I miss that beautiful route. I miss taking guests and tourists on a tour de ville over the mountain.

I and most of my friends and neighbours just didn’t go this year - so we missed seeing our beautiful city from the chalet

I and most of my friends and neighbours and relatives want the road open to reconnect our city and provide access to all. Even if we are all in a car.

There’s an old expression - “don’t fix what isn’t broken”

I would like to see the mountain road re-opened to cars once again, enabling us to go from east to west and vice versa. I missed that these past several months, for both the beauty I missed seeing and for the convenience of getting to my destination without the headaches of traveling a circuitous route.

Very few “ regular bikers” take the road over the mountain, it’s mostly for those training. To inconvenience all those motorists doesn’t make sense. To have used the example of Brooklyn ‘s Prospect Park was dishonest. It’s totally flat, used by the general public of all ages for biking, walking, skateboarding- not just the fitness bikers. It also has a parallel road very close by.

Please re- open my mountain road.

Through traffic should always be allowed on Camillien-Houde Way and Remembrance Road, at all times of the year.

There should never be a ban on vehicular traffic between Maison Smith and Lac aux Castors, under any circumstances, at any time of the year.

No alternative to through-traffic is needed at this time. The driving lanes have already been reduced from 2 lanes in each direction with no stops, down to one lane in each direction with a number of stop signs added. No additional impediment or change is required.

For me, an urban park road is not much different from other urban roads, in that it needs to accommodate all types of vehicular traffic - buses, personal cars, motorcycles, scooters and bicycles - without preferential treatment of one over the other.

Safety of all is important, but again no particular type of transportation should be canonized over the others. Given the narrowness of the road in the section between Maison Smith and Lac aux Castors, motorists could be allowed the north two lanes of the road by the RCMP barns and cyclists could be given the south lanes currently used for cemetery access from the west. The shoulders of Camillien-Houde and Remembrance Road are already quite broad through the rest of the trajectory, so bicycles have a safe space to occupy out of the flow of motorized traffic, particularly on the tough uphill slope travelling east to west when cyclists often slow right down.

Shuttles could help with the overflowing parking lots. That said, existing parking lots surrounding the old Royal Vic, which give great walking access to the mountain, sit empty, as the cost of parking is ridiculous at $20 for a few hours. Shuttles from other more reasonably priced parking lots could be a consideration over the busy weekends.

I do not feel any other "improvements" are required at this time. What is required is an END to the non-stop RAISING OF PROPERTY TAXES to pay for non-essential cosmetic alterations and political posturing around urban management.

I feel very strongly that cars should be allowed to use the road crossing the mountain. The cyclist was killed because a motorist made an illegal U-Turn. Traffic regulations should be enforced and the road should be safe for everyone. If you closed a road every time a pedestrian or cyclist was killed or injured there would be no roads open at all. Roads must be made safer for all, not closed.

The closure of the road cuts off the most beautiful part of our city to too many people. Seniors, like me, are not able to cycle nor walk long distances. Beside not being able to enjoy the mountain. It is a great impediment to seniors who want to visit the graves of their friends and relatives. Now I hear that the cyclists are speeding through there and are creating a new menace to pedestrians.

Many city streets are impassible due to construction. Why close off one route that makes traveling easier? The city must make the Camilen Houde safe for all , but keep it open.

Under what conditions would you consider it acceptable to allow through-traffic on the mountain?
Under ALL conditions

Under what conditions would you consider it acceptable to ban through-traffic on the mountain?
For special events, such as races.

In your opinion, what would be possible alternatives to removing through-traffic? What would be the conditions for their application?
There is NO logical alternative to removing through traffic.

The mountain has to remain accessible from both East and West.
Through traffic is never heavy (see studies) and aleviates circulation on periferal roads while saving time for users. This reduces pollution, reduces traffic congestion and reduces the frequency of potential accidents.

The mountain’s fauna and flora is not affected by the through traffic. The mountain sits in the middle of the city the emits a million times more CO2 than the narrow Camillien-Houde/Rememberance road.

Accessibility for all, means accessibility for young and old, healthy and sick, athletic and limited active...

And the parking and cemetary access are major issues . There must be access to all parkings and cemetaries from both directions at all times.

Why we must have a public consultation when the preceding facts are glaringly obvious, and when an on-line petition of over 35,000 votes FOR maintaning through traffic?

This is a major waste of public funds . Montreal is a large city, not a private parc for a select group of bicycle afficionados and holier than thou green extremists

The road that goes over the mountain links east and west of the city and should remain open to all year round. It gives access to the mountain park,but it does not interfere in any way with the park itself. Sharing the view of the city from the lookout with visitors for a brief photo stop is a moment of pride, and by continuing to the other side of the city one can appreciate the various boroughs all with different cultural influences, but united as one welcoming city. Remberance Camilien Houde is NOT a park road but rather a road TO the park. On one side of the road is the city’s largest cemeteries and on the other is the vehicular parking which gives access to the park or which allows one to first view the forest we have in the middle of the city. Cars, city & tour buses, bicycles, and pedestrians should all have equal access. Speed limits should be strictly enforced, 40 km per hour max. For safety divide the road with concrete barriers on one side for two way bicycle traffic , and maintain a sidewalk on the other side. In the areas where there is sheer rock walls install wire fence barriers to prevent rocks from falling on passers by, or to prevent falling down the escarpment.

There is sufficient car parking for families to come bringing picnics or for one to enjoy a coffee at Beaver Lake Cafe or Smith House. Too many cars vying for parking just adds noise and disruption. Public transit can be made more available and encouraged with signage and advertising . The 711 bus is great. It should run from Snowden metro on the west side to Mount Royal metro on the east, every 10 minutes on weekends and every 20 during the week.
There is no need for further cafe installations. The cafes at Beaver Lake, Smith House and the Chalet Lookout are ample and encourage relaxed pedestrian traffic. After exploring the forest trails or strolling along the circular roads it is a pleasant reward to enjoy a coffee, hot chocolate or light meal or snack. The lookout on Camilien Houde Road is best for a quick stop and not a gathering place. Having food and drink there just encourages littering. Same for the unsightly sunset viewing spot. No need for this. One can get a great view of the sunset from St . Joseph’s Oratory exterior steps and it is on the 711 route. We don’t need to build more ‘stuff’ on the mountain. We need to maintain it in its mostly natural state, with lots of garbage cans , benches, walking / snowshoeing trails,and winter bird feeding stations. Horse patrol by the police could be more frequent. Those ugly unused glass cabins at Beaver Lake are an unsightly ,unnecessary addition. Total misuse of taxpayers money! The new wooden benches around Braver Lake are lovely . Adding boats for rental is not good, just adds to disturbance. A couple of ducks are ok, but anymore just creates dirt and mess around the lake. (Look at the disaster Lafontaine Park has become!)
A few barbecue picnic areas in the wooded area around Beaver Lake and near the children’s playground area,are a nice idea for family picnics but otherwise no fire pits or fires anywhere.

Bikes should only be on the dirt road, and NOT on the trails- this needs to be enforced . Two weeks ago when I was hiking along a path I was nearly run over twice by dirt bikers careening down the trail.

The mountain park should be a place for all citizens to enjoy and a peaceful place of pride to show our visitors.

I think the Camillon Hood & Remembrance Rd should be kept open, all year. I think the 'hanging coffee houses' are an eye sore & should be removed, permanently. We have no need of any commercial enterprises on the mountain.
I think the large, wide roads which have gradually taken over the mountain paths should be made much smaller, so that we could return to having paths on the mountain, we need more trees planted.
I believe the bicycles are causing too much damage on the mountain & should be redirected to much more use around the mountain, much less use through the mountain.

Through traffic must be permanently reinstated. It is a great loss to Montreal to disallow the most scenic drive in the city. Measures should be taken to crack down on speeding traffic - cars and bicycles alike. Ideally, a separate bike path should be built to accommodate the sport-cyclists who feel the need to exceed safe speed limits.

I feel that the Mont Royal should be open to everyone. There should be a designated lane for bicycles and cars. It is an historic landmark where people love to show tourists what a beautiful city we have. We have to work together to have everyone enjoy this remarkable treasure. Cars should still have rights and it is such a pleasure to be able to drive from one end of the mountain to the other. We have to also remember we have an aging population that may not be able to take public transportation and need to be driven to this area but also for those who wish to visit departed loved ones at the the cemetery .

With so many east/west routes under construction it is irresponsible of the current administration to bar access to a major east/west route.

Park Road: everyone without exception should be allowed to use the park road otherwise it is discriminatory as it favors only the cyclists and at that we're only referring to elite cyclists and your weekend cyclist would not be doing the climb of Camilien House from Park Avenue

Sharing the road and New Layouts: It is important and all users should respect that. As a driver I have always respected speed limits and signage on Camilien Houde but this is not the case for many cyclist who go past me at incredible speeds going downhill and would not be able to stop should a child or animal run into the road. On the CDN side, cyclists should be on the road that was closed to traffic or give then a designated lane. I find it amazing that the city has not increased the fines for U-turns at the lookout but instead decides to add a "cafe" . Sorry but this is a ridiculous idea and aesthetically speaking it was ugly to boot; what an embarrassment. How about add a camera at the spots where u-turns happen with a caption $1000 fine, or license revocation for one month or 2 if you cannot pay the fine and apply the fines. We're all grown ups and should be responsible for our actions. If you're stupid enough to do the U-turn, well then deal with the consequences. These signs with no U-turns are useless unless the consequence is clearly stated $$$ (think of the billboards on the highway to Toronto which describe clearly the fines for speeding) Public transit: free to go up the mountain, from Park/ Camilien Houde or CDN/ Camilien Houde, no transfers.

Landscape , Heritage and attractiveness: loose the ramshackle cafe and improve the food offerings at the mountain chalet. With all the great food offerings we have in this city , it's embarrassing that nothing has been done. Perhaps some food trucks could be permitted in some areas during summer. The road east -west where it meets CDN to go downtown is downright dangerous; this needs some improvement.

Environment and fauna: many paths are being ruined or being created by mountain bikes; again perhaps some fines could help as a deterrent.

Lastly improve your English communications. On this particular site, the 2 notices one saying that it's my text and the other giving authorisation to publish these texts below my name and contact information are in French. I don't mind as I understand but it it's not only rude to have this only in French on what is supposed to be the English version of the site, but it may discourage some Montrealers to answer and they may not fully understand. And that is not a fair way to treat your tax paying citizens.

I am entirely Against the closure of the Camilien-Houde/ Rememberance Road for the following reasons.


1, This road will not be reforested. The City has not shown any plans to turn these roads back to Nature. These roads must remain intact as roads and they have to be maintained and salted at enormous expense. Ordinary tax paying citizens will have to pay the high maintenance costs for a road that they cannot use

2. Under the "experiment" this road was woefully underused, Yet here has been no improvement at separatng bicycles from cars, This was the pre-text given when the City closed the road after the death of a cyclist. Y
I would argue that the sporadic nature of motor traffic during this recent "experiment", endangered the 100 or so superfit cyclists who actually used the road. It lulled them into a false sense of security..

3, One of the aims here ought to be the complete separation between bikes and cars. But this could be accomplished without closing .the road to vehicle traffic.

I would vote for total access to motor vehicles,and reduce speed limit for both motor vehicles and bicycles.
Perhaps also increase the presence of mobile law enforcers

The public must be allowed to cross the mountain, by bike, car or public transit - all year long - via Remembrance and Camillien-Houde.

A protected bike lane should be set up along with barriers/medians preventing all users from crossing lanes. A speed limit of 30k per hour must be enforced. (Cameras installed to catch speeders)

I am a cyclist foremost, and ride up and down the Mountain at least weekly. I used two enjoy he ambiance of the Mountain with families and folks of all ages enjoying their leisure in the magnificent setting. But I am fearful that the real intent behind recent changes has been solely to favour those who see nature as a cloister of sorts -only for those who enjoy quiet contemplation while disdaining the sights, sounds, and smells of our multicultural universe .

I can attest that the road closure significantly reduced the number of picnicking families throughout the summer. Besides, I think of the great parks such as the Garden Luxembourg, the Boston Commons, Central Park, and Brooklyn's Prospect Park - all brimming with people and an endless variety of activities which draw them. Contrast that to Mount Royal where there is virtually no sport of physical activities permitted. There is almost no food to be had, and the cost for a family to come by public transit is prohibitive.

The u-turn which caused all this was just the latest of the counties number of dangerous maneuvers which long ago begged for a narrow metal fence/lane divider which would have precluded the entire incident. But, like a mysterious report suggesting the danger of a baseball and the subsequent closure of the diamond in Jean Mance Park, those who prefer cloisters for the elite had just the pretext they were seeking to, once more, "protect" our Mountain and Green spaces from those for whom they were meant and who are increasingly excluded.

I would like to hear the views of our officials on the comparison I make between ours and the other great parks I mention, and about how and why the people here are excluded from their own parks and green spaces.

Please keep the mountain open all year round!

Park road should be open to all and we should be able to go through it all, it is one of the best points to view the city. Sharing the road is necessary, but all should be able to share it,make the road a little smaller and wider protected paths for bikes and people.From what I can see public transit was okay before the road was closed and should continue. To improve parking how about underground parking like they do in Boston, and at both entry points to the mountain show
how many spots are available.

Leave the road open all across the mountain. There are sufficient stop signs to keep the traffic at a safe rate for cycling as well as car traffic.

I believe that Mount Royal Park is a precious jewel to be enjoyed by all Montrealers and visitors without artificial restrictions. Cutting access to the mountain in two has little purpose except to discourage usage of a beautiful area.

I agree that the road through the park should be strictly for sightseeing or to access walking trails of the mountain, as well as access to the two cemeteries. Speed limits must be enforced or speed bumps installed to discourage any use of the roadway as a shortcut across the mountain. Normal driving across Mount Royal remains a wonderful way to appreciate the beauty of the city and should be maintained.

I would usually visit the mountain several times a month throughout the year but I avoided it the whole summer of 2018 because of the artificial restrictions imposed. In the past the Lac Castor parking lot is so often full throughout the summer with families & picnickers that I would often have to move on to the larger Maison Smith parking area, but knowing that this was no longer an option, I chose other destinations instead.

When taking visitors to see our mountain, especially the lookout, it was very complicated to have to drive all the way from NDG across downtown to Parc Ave in order to get to a convenient parking area. We don’t always have the time to do this and not everyone has the physical capacity to walk all the way from Lac des Castors to the lookout.

Only elite cyclists were able to use the trails on the mountain as the access roads are far too steep for the average cyclist to attempt.

Please find a more rational solution to the problem of cars speeding across the mountain than the one imposed upon the population last summer.