Taking a knife to De Maisonneuve

Boulevard De Maisonneuve remains of one of the Metro’s most visible legacies, a patchwork of individual streets stitched together to facilitate cut-and-cover construction.  Most Montreal urban history geeks could tell you the former names of its constituent parts– Western, St-Luc, Burnside, Ontario, and De Montigny streets. However, being a product of the 1960’s urban planning, the amalgamated boulevard necessarily entailed new rights-of-way . Following the path of the green line, rather than the city’s grid, De Maisonneuve cut through established city blocks, leaving stretches of windowless walls, blank facades, and awkward angular lots in its wake.

Google Maps, circa 1955

Since then, the boulevard has grown out of its bit role as Sainte-Catherine’s service street.  New developments such as Le Roc Fleuri, Les Tours Lépine, and the upcoming Louis Bohème contribute to the once-moribund streetlife with ground-level retail. A coherent redesign of public spaces (PDF) has given the boulevard an aesthetic cachet all its own. And of course, the bike path further cements the boulevard’s place as a vital, multi-modal transportation corridor. With each new project, De Maisonneuve develops a more cohesive streetscape, a more coherent identity.

So then: what the hell is this?