Boulevard René-Lévesque (Montreal)
The Boulevard René-Lévesque (formerly Boulevard Dorchester ) is a major street in Montreal . It is named after René Lévesque , a former Prime Minister of Québec . It begins near the Pont Jacques-Cartier , where it branches off from Rue Notre-Dame . It then runs in a south-westerly direction through the central arrondissement of Ville-Marie and ends after 5.2 kilometers on Avenue Atwater.
history
From the 18th century, the street was informally known as the Grand chemin de la Haute-Folie . 1844 it was in honor of Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester in Rue Dorchester renamed. For more than a century it was a rather inconspicuous street lined with mostly Victorian houses. After Jean Drapeau first took up the post of mayor in 1954, he recognized the potential for a main traffic axis. In the following year, following a decision by the city council, the street was widened to eight lanes, which necessitated the demolition of several hundred buildings. As a result, numerous skyscrapers were built on the street, now known as Boulevard Dorchester , and the business center of Montreal relocated from the old town here.
In November 1987 the city council decided to rename the Boulevard Dorchester in Boulevard René-Lévesque . This was done in honor of the former Quebec Prime Minister René Lévesque , who had recently passed away. The southernmost section of the road, around 500 meters long, retained the original name, however, as it lies in the Westmount area and the predominantly English-speaking suburban community did not want to honor the separatist politician.
Buildings
Boulevard René-Lévesque passes numerous important buildings, including several skyscrapers. From northeast to southwest these are among others:
- the Maison de Radio-Canada (television and radio center)
- the campus of the Université du Québec à Montréal
- the Édifice Hydro-Québec (headquarters of Hydro-Québec )
- the Complexe Desjardins (eighth tallest building in the city)
- the Complexe Guy-Favreau (administrative center of the federal government)
- the headquarters of SNC Lavalin
- the Saint-Patrick de Montréal basilica
- the Place Ville-Marie (fourth tallest building in the city)
- the luxury hotel Fairmont Le Reine Élizabeth
- the Gare Centrale (main train station)
- the Marie-Reine-du-Monde de Montréal cathedral
- the tour CIBC (fifth tallest building in the city)
- the skyscraper 1250 René-Lévesque (second tallest building in the city)
- the Center canadien d'architecture (architecture museum)
Many of these buildings are connected to each other and to the metro via the underground city .
More streets
In the central part, the Boulevard René-Lévesque runs parallel to Rue Sainte-Catherine and Rue Viger, in the southern part parallel to Autoroute 720 . Major cross streets include the Rue Guy , the Rue Peel , the Rue University , the Rue McGill of Boulevard Saint-Laurent and the Rue Saint-Denis . The Boulevard René-Lévesque forms the western boundary of Chinatown opposite the Édifice Hydro-Québec , and between the Marie-Reine-du-Monde de Montréal Cathedral and the Tour CIBC it cuts through a large green area ( Square Dorchester and Place du Canada ).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Abrégé de l'Étude de caractérisation de l'arrondissement historique et naturel du Mont-Royal. (PDF, 193 KB) (No longer available online.) Commission des biens culturels du Québec, September 2005, formerly in the original ; Retrieved on May 9, 2012 (French). ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The Widening of Dorchester. urbanphoto.net, December 16, 2007, accessed on May 9, 2012 .
- ↑ Montreal to rename Dorchester Blvd. after Levesque. (No longer available online.) Canada.com, Jan 5, 2007, archived from the original on June 28, 2011 ; accessed on May 9, 2012 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Coordinates: 45 ° 30 '32.8 " N , 73 ° 33' 40.9" W.