Westmount’s Summit Woods: Mount Royal’s first no-through-traffic project

Eliminating through traffic on Mount Royal is old news in Westmount.

Long before Mayor Valérie Plante’s Projet Montréal administration started its controversial pilot project on Camillien-Houde Way/Remembrance Rd., Westmount decided to close a stretch of Summit Circle road and make it pedestrian only.

Former Westmount mayor Peter Trent first raised the idea in 1990, according to the Westmount Independent. The road was closed to traffic in 2009, with work starting on the final project only starting in 2016.

Trees, bushes and a wide gravel path replaced the road, which cuts the Summit Woods in two. A new lookout was added, giving visitors a view of the mountain’s interior and the Outremont Summit.

The images below are from a 2016 city of Westmount document. The new gravel path was inaugurated in July 2017.