Posted in Driving, freeway, tagged freeway, Interchange on July 30, 2009 | 7 Comments »
From CBC
Drivers trying to get to and from Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport will have a smoother ride in the near future, say government officials who announced a $224-million reconstruction project Monday.
The project, which is being paid for by federal, provincial and municipal governments, involves the complete overhaul of the troublesome Dorval Circle plus the addition of new, direct links between the airport and Highways 20 and 520. (more…)
Posted in Art & Culture, Driving, tagged Art, Barrel Monster on June 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Causing a bit of a stir in the US because even though this street art is technically vandalism, it seems to be putting a lot of smiles on a lot of faces.
“When Joseph Carnevale chopped up three stolen orange and white traffic barrels from a construction site to create a massive sculpture of a roadside monster thumbing a ride, the North Carolina college student said he saw it as a form of street art.
Raleigh, N.C., police just saw vandalism….However
Hamlin Associates, the construction company whose barrels were turned into a monster, doesn’t want to press charges.
“We’ve had a fair amount of vandalism, but never anyone turn it into art,” Company President Steven Hussey said. “I actually thought it was pretty neat.”
Hussey said the value of the publicity his company has received is well above the $365 cost of the traffic barrels that Carnevale used.
“It’s been positive publicity for us,” he said. “If we’d known he’d do that good of a work, we’d have given him the barrels.”
Story here.
Facebook group with 3, 298 Members
Our roads are notoriously bad here in Quebec and our long suffering pothole thumping drivers deserve some kind of entertaining diversion to make their drives a little less miserable . Perhaps the MTQ should look into buying some Barrel Monsters for our eternally under repair highways?
Posted in Driving, tagged Bicycle on June 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Cycling in Montreal: Survey of cyclists and route preferences
The project is lead by Jacob Larsen, master of Urban Planning candidate, and supervised by Ahmed El-Geneidy, assistant professor.
Transportation Research at McGill (TRAM) and the McGill School of Urban Planning are conducting research into Montrealers’ cycling habits and route preferences. This research will help improve cycling conditions in the city for all types of cyclists.
This short questionnaire will take no longer than 10 minutes.
Click here to take the survey
Results from the surveys will be posted here in December 2009.
Montréal à vélo: Enquête sur les cyclistes et les intinéraires
Ce projet est mené par Jacob Larsen, candidat à la maîtrise en urbanisme, et supervisé par Ahmed El-Geneidy, professeur adjoint.
Le Groupe de recherche en transport de McGill (TRAM) et l’École d’urbanisme de McGill font actuellement une recherche sur les habitudes et itinéraires des cyclistes montréalais. Cette recherche aidera à améliorer les conditions de cyclisme dans la ville pour tous les types de cyclistes.
Cette courte enquête ne vous prendra pas plus que 10 minutes.
Cliquez ici pour faire l’enquête.
Les résultats des sondages seront publiés ici en decembre 2009.
If you have inquiries about this research, please contact Jacob Larsen:
Si vous avez des questions à propos de cette recherche, veuillez s’il vous plaît contacter Jacob Larsen :
School of Urban Planning
815 Sherbrooke St. W.
Macdonald-Harrington Building, Suite 400
Montréal, QC
H3A 2K6
Telephone: 514 398-4075
Fax: 514 398-8376
Email: jacob.larsen[at]mail.mcgill.ca
Posted in architecture, Construction, Development, Driving, environment, transportation, tagged Development, environment, Turcot, Turcot Interchange on January 28, 2009 | 6 Comments »
One of the options Transports Quebec had on the table with the Turcot Interchange was to simply renovate and strengthen the current interchange. It was estimated that this would cost half of what the current rebuild-it-alltogether plan would cost - estimation, 1.5 Billion, 6 years work.
I tend to think that renovation is what they should be doing. The current plan assumes that the world will continue to function as it always has, that cars and trucks will come and go, and there will always be young people who will choose to live in the suburbs but will also choose to have a career downtown. It’s as if there is an infinite supply of harmless oil and gasoline to sustain all possibilities. Many of us know that that dream has never been long term useful and the rest that don’t are beginning to suspect that maybe there is something to all this climate change/peak oil talk.
So they should simply renovate Turcot as part of a 10-15 year transportation plan that will end with Turcot and the Ville Marie Expressway being torn down for good (though I would still like to see some parts of Turcot remain as useful structures). That’s right. No more freeways or interchanges for the city core. The transportation plan could focus on various light rail systems and expanding parking facilities at train stations as well as using the old highways for, among other things, electric bus routes. We won’t need all that big infrastructure for a dedicated public transportation system.
It may be as soon as 10 years before one will no longer be able to buy a brand new gasoline only automobile in North America. The future is coming towards us faster and faster, perhaps even faster than we are going to be prepared for it. Change is coming. That is the one thing that is absolutely certain. The whole game is going to be different in a generation or two.
It’s time to stop rebuilding the past with soon to be obsolete concepts.
Posted in Driving, freeway, Interchange, Photography, Urban, tagged freeway, Interchange, Japanese Freeways on January 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
And we think Turcot is something! Here are some shots from a series posted on Dark Roasted Blend.
(images credit: Ken Ohyama)
(images credit: Ken Ohyama)
(images credit: Ken Ohyama)
And this one was victim to an earthquake.
(image credit: AFP / Jiji Press)
Posted in Community, Driving, freeway, Photography, Structures, tagged 780 Saint Remi, Interchange, Turcot on November 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Some shots by Jacob Larsen. This building and the housing along the north side of Cazelais will be demolished under the current Turcot re-do plan. Almost ironically, there is no talk of tearing down the Home Depot.
Posted in Driving, tagged Aubin, Grand Prix on November 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Henry Aubin wrote in Saturday’s Gazette about alternative ideas for the now gone Montreal Grand Prix. This part at the end really caught my eye.
“Use Île Notre Dame’s F1 track for a race involving electric cars.
This brainstorm, which comes from car expert Jacques Duval, is the most promising idea of all. It would spur research on environmentally-friendly automotive technology and showcase Hydro-Québec’s low-emission sources of electricity.
It also would brand Montreal as a city that embraces the future, not the gas-guzzling past à la Grand Prix. And it would be unique in the world.
Mayor Gérald Tremblay should hurry to get started on this. Duval’s idea is too good for other cities to ignore for long.”
That is simply a fantastic idea! Let’s face it, if there is any kind of a future for car racing, it s going to be with electric or non gas powered cars. Now is the time to get this started. We have a very conveniently located track and a city where people from around the world are used to coming to for a race. The technolgy is out there, we just need some people with the right energy to get this thing off the ground.
Posted in Climate Change, Driving, environment, tagged David Suzuki, Greenhoue, Quebec on November 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
It s an impressive accomplishment! Article here.
For the fourth year in a row, Quebec has lowered its total greenhouse gas emissions, reducing the amount of polluting gases that contribute to climate change even as the province’s economy and population have grown.
The news, made public yesterday by the Environment Department, was lauded by environmentalist David Suzuki, who was in Montreal speaking to a business audience. (more…)
Posted in Dreams, Driving, freeway, Interchange, Photography, Structures, Urban, tagged Photography, Ratsters, Turcot on July 19, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Posted in Climate Change, Driving, History, tagged Auto, Cars, Peak Oil on July 8, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Found this over at Save Griffintown and it’s just too interesting to not pass on.
Posted in architecture, Driving, freeway, Interchange, Photography, Structures, tagged Night, Photography, Turcot on May 31, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Posted in Driving, Photography, Snowpiles, Urban, tagged Photography, Snowpiles on May 13, 2008 | 2 Comments »
“unbelievable… the turcot yards burried under tons of dirty snow. I wish i could have gotten a better picture, but the guys from the MTQ did not like to see me hanging around. I had to quickly zoom with the fisheye still on, and then drive on urgh. “
And douaireg has a lot of nice images of Saint Henri as well.
Posted in architecture, Driving, freeway, Infrastructure, Interchange, Photography, Structures on April 14, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Posted in Art, Driving, Photography, Urban on April 9, 2008 | 6 Comments »
Perhaps the most famous photography exhibition in history took place at MOMA in 1967 featuring the works of Gary Winogrand, Diane Arbus, and Lee Friedlander. It was called New Documents and while much of the publicity and controversy surrounding the exhibit focused on Arbus’s work, the show clearly was announcing that a new aesthetic was forming out of documentary traditions. All three of these photographers are now regarded as 20th century icons.
From Wiki, “Friedlander studied photography at the Art Center College of Design located in Pasadena, California. In 1956, he moved to New York City where he photographed jazz musicians for record covers. His early work was influenced by Eugène Atget, Robert Frank, and Walker Evans. In 1960, the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation awarded Friedlander a grant to focus on his art and made subsequent grants in 1962 and 1977.
Working primarily with Leica 35mm cameras and black and white film, Friedlander’s style focused on the “social landscape”. His art used detached images of urban life, store-front reflections, structures framed by fences, and posters and signs all combining to capture the look of modern life.”
Some Projects.
If one thing has been consistent throughout Friedlander’s career it is the presence of the photographer in the image.
But his subject matter has been diverse.
He also set his eye on the parks of Frederick Law Olmsted (which would provide a Montreal connection).
In the 90′s he began using a medium format camera and that project seems to be almost a synthesis of his career.
“The subject itself,” he wrote of landscape, “is simply perfect, and no matter how well you manage as a photographer, you will only ever give a hint as to how good the real thing is. We photographers don’t really make anything: we peck at the world and try to find something curious or wild or beautiful that might fit into what the medium of photography can hold.”
“The photographs of these places,” he added, “are a hint, just a blink at a piece of the real world. At most, an aphrodisiac.”
Posted in Driving, freeway, Interchange, Photography, Snow, Snowpiles on April 1, 2008 | 1 Comment »
