IT’S QUITE THE COVER-UP
New public space above Ville-Marie
With a wind chill of -14 C, it was too cold for a picnic on the freshly laid sod in Montreal’s newest public square on Monday. And it’s only Phase 1 — the landscaping is temporary, and a promised new pedestrian link over an adjacent highway off-ramp is still only an idea.
But as they inaugurated Place des Montréalaises, officials described the windswept square as a big step toward fixing the historic mistake of building a trench highway — the Ville-Marie Expressway — between Old Montreal and downtown.
Located next to the Champde-Mars métro station, the new square covers 125 metres of the Ville-Marie, between Hôtel-deVille Ave. and Sanguinet St. On its northern side, a Ville-Marie highway ramp separates the square from Old Montreal.
As a 375th-birthday gift to Montreal, the provincial government spent $68 million on covering the stretch of highway and temporary landscaping that includes grass and multi-coloured crushed stone.
But the square is still a work in progress.
In June, under former mayor Denis Coderre, Montreal said it would spend another $34 million on the square. At the time, the city launched a competition to find a permanent design, including a pedestrian bridge over the VilleMarie ramp, to link the square and Old Montreal.
There is a tunnel under the ramp, used by workers, tourists and Montrealers visiting nearby city hall, but that route is closed for renovations. Scheduled to reopen this month, the tunnel will only be ready in January, officials said.
Built in the 1970s, the VilleMarie improved east-west traffic flow, but “many said it created a scar in the heart of the city,” Quebec Transport Minister André Fortin said.
The square is named in honour of women who have marked Montreal history. Fortin mentioned Jeanne Mance, Marie-Joseph Angelique, Jessie Maxwell Smith, Ida Roth Steinberg and the 14 engineering students murdered at Polytechnique Montréal in 1989.
Mayor Valérie Plante thanked Quebec for the gift and said the square will revitalize the area, which will be frequented by more people thanks to the new Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal superhospital and the redevelopment of the former Viger train station and hotel.
It will also make it easier for people on foot to move between Old Montreal, downtown and Chinatown, she said.
As an opposition councillor, Plante and her Projet Montréal party had pressed Quebec to close the Ville-Marie off-ramp to improve pedestrian safety.
Two years ago, when it became clear the ramp would stay, Plante said of the square: “It’s a lot of public money for a bad project. “
On Monday, Plante did not answer directly when asked if the final design will include a bridge over the ramp.
Asked about the bridge, she said: “The idea of a design contest is to open our horizons and to see all the possibilities. I am anxious to see what comes out of the process.”
She said the tunnel will reopen soon and, by 2020, pedestrians will have “easier access” between Old Montreal and the Champ-de-Mars métro station.