Montreal ‘proud of our pedestrian streets,' Luc Rabouin says

Montreal Gazette

26-05-2025

Montreal's summer pedestrian streets are back for 2025, with some already open for the season.
This year's slate is almost identical to the 2024 project, with no new additions, though Plaza St-Hubert will remain open to cars after its pedestrianization plan was scrapped in February.
Last September, the city committed to fund summer pedestrian streets for three more years, cementing a framework that keeps cars off some commercial streets with the support of local commercial development corporations (CDCs). While the city dropped the Plaza St-Hubert plan after 60 per cent of local business owners voted against it, Plateau-Mont-Royal borough mayor Luc Rabouin maintained that the remaining streets still enjoy widespread support.
'No commercial street tried pedestrianization and didn't decide to redo it, except for one,' said Rabouin, who also sits on the city's executive committee. He called Plaza St-Hubert 'the exception that proves the rule.'
Four years after the project began, 'we are now proud of our pedestrian streets,' Rabouin said. 'We're no longer asking ourselves whether it works or not. It works.'
Nine streets are slated for pedestrianization this summer:
Mont-Royal Ave. between St-Laurent Blvd. and St-Denis St. from May 26 until Oct. 16 and between St-Denis St. and De Lorimier Ave. from May 26 until Sept. 4.
Duluth Ave. E. between St-Laurent Blvd. and St-Hubert St. from June 16 to Oct. 16.
Wellington St. between 6th Ave. and Regina St. from June 2 to Sept. 19.
Ste-Catherine St. E. between St-Hubert St. and Papineau Ave. and a short stretch of St-Christophe St. between Ste-Catherine St. E. and 1278 St-Christophe St. from May 15 to Oct. 14.
St-Denis St. between Sherbrooke and Ste-Catherine Sts. from June 14 to Sept. 15.
Émery St. between Sanguinet and St-Denis Sts. from June 14 to Sept. 15.
Ontario St. E. between Pie-IX Blvd. and Darling St. from June 16 to Sept. 12.
Bernard Ave. W. between Wiseman St. and Bloomfield St. from May 24 to Sept. 21.
De Castelnau St. E. between St-Denis St. and de Gaspé Ave. from May 12 to Nov. 7.
'A pedestrian street is a lot more attractive than a street with constant intense traffic,' Rabouin said at a Villeray press conference held on the recently pedestrianized de Castelnau St. E.
That street will see its temporary pedestrianization last the longest, running into November.
'You'll be able to celebrate Halloween with us,' said Villeray—Saint-Michel—Parc-Extension borough mayor Laurence Lavigne.
Villeray CDC general director Louis Vaillancourt was optimistic, telling The Gazette the 2024 rendition of the project had boosted business for the merchants he represents.
'This is a lot of fun for the citizens, but my mission is to make money for my people,' he said.
Claire, who manages the de Castelnau St. Épicerie Loco, a boutique grocery store, was also happy pedestrianization would return. She declined to provide her last name.
The store takes advantage of the pedestrian street to offer tastings to passersby, she said.
'There are a lot of events in the street, so people are passing by, they see that the door is open, they do the tastings, it attracts a lot of people,' she said. 'We're very happy with that.'
Restaurant owner Rabih Rouhana, who runs Comptoir Sainte-Cécile, said he is expecting to see an increase in customers.
Restaurants tend to benefit the most from pedestrian projects, said Sébastien Ridoin, the general director of Montreal's CDC association.
'Obviously terrasses on the streets help them,' he said.
But the projects only work when businesses are onside, Rabouin said, adding he was under no illusion that summer pedestrian streets work in every instance.
'It's not a recipe that we should apply to every commercial street. It's a recipe that works in certain cases.'
In the short term, permanent pedestrianization remains out of reach, he said.
'We are always ready to discuss the most ambitious thing we can do,' Rabouin said, but most business owners want the pedestrianization to remain temporary.
This story was originally published May 26, 2025 at 5:02 PM.