The Saint-Jacques Escarpment (, ) is a green space along an

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

in the city of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, west of

downtown Montreal Downtown Montreal (French language, French: ''Centre-Ville de Montréal'') is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The district is situated on the southernmost slope of Mount Royal, and occupies the western portion of the ...

and adjacent to the neighbourhood of

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (, , ), commonly known as NDG, is a residential neighbourhood of Montreal in the city's West End, with a population of 166,520 (2016). An independent municipality until annexed by the City of Montreal in 1910, NDG is today o ...

. The

wooded A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

area stretches long, covering over . The escarpment's dense stands of poplar trees and its location between

Mount Royal Mount Royal (, ) is a mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The city's name is derived from the mountain's name. The mountain is part of the Monteregian Hills situated between the Laurentian M ...

and the

Lachine Rapids The Lachine Rapids () are a series of rapids on the Saint Lawrence River, between the Island of Montreal and the South Shore. They are confusingly located near the borough of Lasalle and not Lachine. The Lachine Rapids contain large standi ...

make it notable for a number of species of resident and migratory birds and a large population of brown snakes. The land at the foot of the escarpment was previously known as a body of water named "Lac St-Pierre". The lake started losing its water with the opening of the

Lachine Canal The Lachine Canal (, ) is a canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running 14.5 kilometres (9 miles) from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroughs of Lachine (borough), L ...

in the year 1825. The escarpment had served as a dumping ground before it was purchased by the

City of Montreal Montreal is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest in Canada, and the ninth-largest in North America. It was founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", and is now named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

for use as parkland, but until 2021 it was not open to the public. Plans to allow public access were frequently delayed because parts of the slope are unstable and dangerous, and the city's desire to preserve the escarpment as a natural space conflicted with the

Province of Quebec Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

's plans for redevelopment of the

Turcot Interchange The Turcot Interchange is a three-level four-way freeway interchange within the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Located southwest of downtown, the interchange links Autoroutes 15 (Décarie and Décarie South Expressways) and 20 (Remembrance ...

, which include moving the Ville-Marie Expressway and

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

line next to the foot of the escarpment. In 2020, the city of Montreal announced a proposal to turn much of the space into a park that would stretch nearly . In 2021, the long park was opened to the public. The west entrance is at Sainte-Anne de Bellevue Boulevard and Brock Avenue South. The east entrance is at Rue Pullman, just northwest of the

References

External links

Ville de Montréal: Saint-Jacques Escarpment
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