Bonjour et bienvenue
For this week’s blog, I decided to examine an urban infrastructure project which was created in the city of Montréal during the 20th century. In order to give you all a better idea of the city which existed in the 20th century, here is a few facts; Montréal is located on the biggest island of the Hochelaga archipelago on the Saint Lawrence river, in Québec, Canada. Downtown Montréal is on the South bank of the island, and trapped between the river and a mountain called Mount Royal.
Throughout this blog post, we will explore the construction of the tunnel, first how it was mined through the mountain and then examine the by product effects it had on the people of Montréal, with special recognition to the creation of a new city to the north of the tunnel.
I was lucky enough to spend a year living in Montréal in 2012, so I found this week’s task incredibly interesting, it allowed me to step back in time into back to a city, which I once experienced on a daily basis! I hope you enjoy reading this post, as much as I had creating it!
Stay tuned to learn some really interesting facts, especially relating to the power a successful urban infrastructure can create !
Pierre-Joseph Cancellieri | 114 112 124
Map 1.1 : This map illustrates the proposed plan of the tunnel, downtown Montréal and Mount Royal town.
First, we will examine a description of the project, its effects on the city, its inhabitants and its geography. Finally, we’ll explore the difficult reality which revolved around the construction of the tunnel.
The tunnel is built under Mount Royal, a mountain which dominates the island of Montréal. Because of a fierce competition of railways companies during the early 20th century, the Canadian Northern Railways (CNR) decided to built a tunnel to compete with other railways owned by competing companies.
Image 1.1: This image illustrates the work which was occurring under Mount Royal. At the time fuel engines were not frequently used due to amount of smoke produced and the lack of ventilation in the tunnel.
Image 1.2 : Due to a lack in technological advances, workers mostly used pickaxes and horses in order to to mine the mountain; to create the tunnel.
It was a huge project, it created both a technical and financial challenge for CNR, so in order to make it profitable, they decided to create a new city based on E. Howard’s theory (Garden City). This new city would benefit from the creation of the tunnel acting as a commuter tunnel and rail system. Indeed, we can sum up the garden city model has an suburban city connected by railways line to the inner city. The train station and the commercial area are located in the centre of the garden city. Houses are around the center and they are surrounded by green fields which provide food for the city.
( In the bibliography, you will find two links which will provide more information on the Garden city model.)
Image 1.3: This aerial photographs gives the clear picture of the town of Mount Royal (TMR) in 1927, we can clearly identify the railways lines, the station in the middle of the image and an efficient streetscape which connected the city to the station.
On the topic of the actual geography of the city, the tunnel created the same effect as if they had completely removed the mountain. It successfully facilitated reliable transport to the north of downtown Montréal; the availability of free flowing public transport in Montreal had been transformed. With the construction of the tunnel, residential suburbs and commuters were born.
However, during its creation the tunnel faced huge difficulties. First, the Great War which destroyed mainland Europe, slowed the progress of the tunnel’s creation due to lack in the availability of resources. In 1918, when the first train set off, no ceremony celebrating its maiden journey was held due to the widespread effect of the public disease; The Spanish Flu. Unfortunately, not long after this the the company faced a financial low; mass debt threatened the company’s status and with this the tunnel’s use. As a last resort, the company was nationalized in 1923. Following on from that, the rising rates of car sales further reduced the potential of the tunnel.
Even if the tunnel was a financial disaster for CNR, the town of Mount Royal grew and became a model city in all aspects, in its design but also in its character.
Image 1.4: Montreal became a model city. It was a city which was transformed; decked out with an efficient road system and examples of wealth such as expensive cars and lavish suburban homes. Interestingly, in the 1930’s and 1940’s, the city’s urban areas were home to the English speaking upper class of Montréal society.
Nowadays, it still exists as a wonderful tool to the city of Montréal. While built in the early 20th century, the tunnel is still providing efficient transportation between the North and downtown Montréal.
Image 1.5: This aerial image shows the town of Mount Royal nowadays. You can clearly identify how certain ideas proposed by E. Howard have been respected due to the abundance of green spaces, this image allows us to identify the difference between TMR and its surrounding environment.
To conclude, despite the fact that car usage still remains a predominant method of private transportation in terms of commute, the town of Mount Royal retains its strong link with the tunnel. The tunnel is the epitome of the town’s heritage, it led to its creation and subsequent success as a suburban town. In 2012 the people of Montreal honored the hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the tunnel’s drilling and creation of the town of Mount Royal; a city built beyond the original boundaries.
I hope you have enjoyed discovering the important role of urban infrastructure in the city of Montreal.
Until next week!
Bilbliography
Sources: click here
Drawing From The Archives 
Félicitations, Pierre- c’était vraiment interessant! I visited Montréal, on ‘honeymoon’ in outdoor air temps of -24 degrees Celsius!!!! I do wonder at this amazing tunnel infrastructure and whether it gave architects, surveyors and Montréal’s city planners the idea to develope ‘underground Shopping Malls’, in the centre of Montréal, which I did not believe could exist, until taken to one by a Montréal native, my new husband’s 1st cousin- it was an incredible sight to behold!
The whole idea of the tunnel being ‘hacked and hewed’ out of bare rock, by men with pick-axes is amazing and what a feat of achievement & endurance- akin to the Irish emigrants building the Railways across 19th century USA! If you lived in Montréal for a year, then I am sure you also came across the oldest tenement housing in the city-and the bizarre nature of the staircases to reach upper floors, built ‘outside’ of the buildings themselves. I was also fascinated by this social housing development and when I enquired of my new ‘in-laws’ as to the bizarre notion of having to go outdoors, to get upstairs, especially in sub-zero temperatures, which lasted from autumn well into the spring of each year, I was told that it was to reduce the cost of house maintenance fees, as less taxes were demanded of the inhabitants, if the staircases were placed outside: which of course allowed for ‘higher density population’ indoors, with more living space, when no internal staircases-an important consideration, when endeavouring to provide for a quickly-growing & burgeoning city population. Just a ‘quirky’ observation as to how earlier social housing ‘space problems’ were dealt with, leaving treacherous conditions on ‘outdoors staircases’, whilst inordinate amounts of funding were spent on travel and shopping infrastructure- economics, power and profit of business interests! Might have made for an interesting comparative analysis, with the tunnel development, which was truly fascinating- bravo!
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Finally, as you are all engaged in such wonderfully diverse topics relating to urbanisation of various cities, could I recommend the following book titles, as further resources which may be of use to you and your Project Team members, should you not already have them? “Ideal Cities” by Ruth Eaton; “London, a life in Maps” by Peter Whitfield and “London as it might have been”, by Felix Barker & Ralph Hyde-all 3 thoroughly interesting & thought-provoking. Bone chance avec les dernièrs ‘posts’ sur ‘Le Blog’!
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