The project to transform Montreal’s most iconic downtown street — including adding pedestrian-only sections — will be ready in 2029 – a year ahead of schedule.
That’s the latest update from the mayor’s office, which says the new timeline is thanks to an “optimization” of the Sainte-Catherine Street West revitalization project.
“This optimized timeline represents a major benefit for businesses, downtown workers, and all Montrealers,” the City of Montreal said in a news release. “It will reduce the impacts on traffic, noise, and quality of life in the city centre associated with a prolonged construction period, without incurring additional costs.”
The wide-ranging revitalization plan, launched by the previous Plante administration, includes building two pedestrian-only public squares on Sainte-Catherine: Place McGill between Robert-Bourassa and Mansfield and Place Concordia between Bishop and Guy.
The sped-up timeline is made possible because more work is being carried out, the city explains. It will also reduce the overall cost of the project “by avoiding the annual indexation of construction costs and by lowering the costs of site management, support, and monitoring.”
“Rethinking our methods to optimize construction projects is one of my administration’s major commitments,” Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada said in the news release. “We had the opportunity to accelerate this major downtown project, and we seized it. This decision demonstrates that with an Ensemble Montréal administration, Montrealers get more for their money.”
Back when she was the leader of the opposition, Martinez Ferrada argued pedestrianizing Sainte-Catherine West would cause more congestion downtown and have a negative impact on businesses in the area.
More coming.
