Turcot is Killed (Dead)

So it's official folks, Turcot yards have been closed by Transport Quebec. Most access points have been fenced off and private security roams about picking up anyone who trespasses. Since 2003 Transport Quebec (MTQ) has owned the yards, however, up until recently they have not done much with it.

On my way into work the other morning I noticed several crews setting up camp on the service road area just under the Decarie exit. The trailers they had looked like the kind used by graffiti clean up crews. I was passing through this afternoon and noticed that they had buffed all the supports and were working towards the train tunnel area.

Firstly, this seems like a waste of money namely because of the plans we've all been hearing about concerning the redevelopment of the yards in the next few years. Turcot has been a painting area for a little while, why buff it now? Especially if the plan is to redevelop the area? Secondly, buffing the area only makes it a prime target for writers who have the balls to go in and hit up some fresh canvass. I forsee more graff going up there in the near future, even if only some quick throwies.

And this is not the only area buffed out, the MTQ (I assume it is the MTQ, however, Westmount or the borough of Ville-Marie might also be invovled -I am yet to locate something on that) seems to be on a crusade to remove graffiti from the highway system. Under the Ville-Marie expressway from Lucien-Lallier to De Courcelle has been mostly buffed, including the Upper TA Wall area. Again...waste of money? Within 2 days there were already some tags and outlines thrown up. Give it a month and the area is going to be soaked in paint again, as it has been for the last 15 years... And in the typical fashion they buffed only the areas visible from the highway and from the new condo developments across the street, leaving areas that are not visible (lower TA wall and factory as well as some other areas) which begs one to ask what was the real motivation behind the buffing?

Above pics: Upper TA Wall Area

In any case, the idea of Turcot as an open free-range painting area is dead with the choke hold that the MTQ seems to have on the area. The rest of the Ville-Marie expressway still appears to be mostly open (I was walking it just the other day without issue except for a few new fences) and the TA Wall should be back to its former colorful and lustrous state of layered paint in no time. It will be interesting, however, to see just how far the MTQ is going to go with this new program.

Stay posted.