Where Montréal Became Separated from the River: From Gare Hochelaga to the Promenade du Courant

Organized by the citizen group Les AmiEs du courant Sainte‑Marie, this walk explores the ways in which the Centre‑Sud area continues to be shaped by a railway network inherited from the 19th century. Between the former Gare Hochelaga/Rail Yard, Notre-Dame Street, and the riverfront, the rail corridor continues to structure the landscape and limit the neighbourhood’s connection to the Saint Lawrence River. Along the route, a simple idea emerges: rather than maintaining a configuration that has become increasingly restrictive, it is worth reconsidering how railway operations are organized. By reducing heavy switching movements in the urban core and better integrating rail activity with port functions, space along the river could gradually be opened up. This reflection draws on a long tradition of urban proposals to extend the Old Port’s public edge eastward. Two possibilities come into view: reorienting certain railway uses to create a continuous public corridor, or overcoming the visual barrier through an elevated promenade linking Davidson Street in Hochelaga to the Quartier Molson and the Old Port — the Promenade du Courant. In both cases, the goal remains the same: to give the neighbourhood a more direct and legible relationship with the river, while preserving the site’s industrial memory.