Rivermead parking expansion
Richard Bégin’s parkade judged outside the double yellow lines
Laurent Robillard-Cardinal
The idea proposed by Deschênes Councillor Richard Bégin to build a parkade at the Rivermead Park-and-Ride instead of simply expanding the parking lot was clamped down. Last January, Bégin and council deferred the STO’s $3 million loan request to acquire lots in order to expand the busy park-and-ride at the corner of Aylmer and Rivermead Roads. Bégin opposed spreading more asphalt to expand the park-and-ride, but the STO did not like the cost of a parking highrise. “Transport Minister (Robert Poëti) is lukewarm to building parkades in park-and-rides. He’s said it openly in various forums,” said Gilles Carpentier, STO Chairman. Carpentier said the costs are too high, “stretching out the parking lot was estimated at $3 million while a five-storey parkade was $14 million. I understand Mr Bégin’s concerns, but the expansion will be pleasing to the eye.”
Mr Bégin argued the study of options was shortsighted. “There are avenues the study missed, but I approved it because public transit is important for our city,” said Bégin, a long-time heritage militant in Aylmer. “We can create buildings that camouflage parking lots. It could have been interesting to do so here because we already recognize Aylmer Road’s heritage character. I guess we are not ready. Right now, the most important step is to acquire the lot and, maybe, in months or years we will evolve these dossiers and can reconsider the site’s expansion,” said Bégin, chair of the city’s urbanism (planning) committee.
“What I want is to improve the city’s quality of life and aesthetics. Asphalted parking lots, as far as the eye can see, are not only ugly but contribute to the urban heat island. It’s also not ecological and we need to evolve. Massive parking lots are outdated,” said Bégin, the former Aylmer Heritage Association president. “I hope we can come up with more intelligent solutions in the future,” added Bégin. “What’s important is that we don’t see the parking lot from Aylmer Road.”
Build up, not out
In Bégin’s vision, the parkade’s architecture could blend in nicely with Aylmer Road’s heritage look. “It wouldn’t be a square block, but interesting architecture,” said Bégin. A parkade at the southern part of the lot would be better since it would allow us to turn the roadside green.” Time is of the essence, since the temporary Hippodrome Park-and-Ride with 200 spaces will disappear when construction of the Connaught neighbourhood starts.
The Rivermead Park-and-Ride has 507 spaces, but rapidly fills up in the morning, forcing commuters to park on the street, which annoys nearby residents. “I received many complaints from people about this,” noted Bégin; “the solution has to be long-term.”
