RIVER WALK
"The St. Lawrence River, the 'Great River' in Huron-Wendat oral tradition, lies in the heart of the Nionwentsïo and constitutes the 'highway' used by the Huron-Wendat since time immemorial to reach the territories where they traditionally practiced - and continue to practice - their customary activities, such as hunting, fishing, trading and plant harvesting." Huron Wendat Nation, 2020
The Riverwalk is a substitution of a private vehicle infrastructure for a network of active and collective transportation. In a reductionist approach, the detour of a portion of the Dufferin-Montmorency highway gives way to a green, blue and white grid, connected to the city center. A new experience of the river from the historic urban core provides a new destination in the capital, and a public space for the local population. On the tidal flats, the main highway structures are now removed from the river landscape, allowing the Maizeret estate to extend out over Beauport Bay. A landscape sequence accompanies access to the river from the Estimauville interchange, in the form of a silent promenade through a riparian woodland. Footbridges, swinging towards the restored riverbanks, create a pedestrian and cycling network that multiplies contact with the river.
The memory of the original shoreline, combined with the urgency of bringing humans back to nature, inspires a fluctuation of experiences sensitive to the behavior of water. It is anchored to the Saint-Charles River corridor and extends as far as the Chute Montmorency. In this hydro-connected zone, the living structure re-establishes the lost link with the shoreline and generates a promenade-digue, a filter repairing nature, ensuring resilience and future adaptation to climate change. Freshwater from the Great Lakes and other tributaries, including the two rivers that frame the site, is subject to tides that raise the water level by up to six metres. These fluctuations give rise to a dynamic coastline that previously supported a rich ecology of tidal flats and recreational areas.
The shoreline has become a flexible zone with renaturated shores, an ecotone where wildlife and plant habitats coexist harmoniously with humans, thanks to a sequence of natural environments that backfill the old freeway and its ramps. This succession of ecosystems creates a sensitive architecture of the site, activating public spaces. The promenade supports cultural, sports, leisure and scientific interpretation programming in all seasons. Among the points of contact that mark the promenade's experiences with the river are the interconnecting jetty, the wildlife lookout, Everell beach and the recreational hub with its natural pool and floating stage. Several of the new ponds are used to cultivate mussels to filter the water along this living structure or for food production. A natural pool, fed by water from the river, is treated via a filtering marsh system, ensuring its flow. In a desire to return to fishing, access to the shore is opened up and fixed fishing structures are combined with the topography, currents and tides, bearing witness to the heritage of traditional Quebec know-how.
(From competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
A proposal that offers a rich look at landscape and green corridors on a regional scale. It proposes an interconnection that promotes a landscape sequence along the coastline.
(From jury report)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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