Montreal to spend $35M to make St-Paul St. more pedestrian-friendly
Renovations to Montreal's oldest street mean removal of 142 paid parking spots
Montreal is injecting $35 million into transforming Montreal's oldest street into a thoroughfare more alluring to pedestrians.
St-Paul Street in the heart of Old Montreal was named in 1672 for Montreal's founder, Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve, who built his own home on the street in 1650.
The city aims to entice more people to the historic Old Montreal street by lowering sidewalks, widening them in certain sections and reducing the speed limit to 20 km/h.
A total of 142 paid parking spots will be removed, however, the 29 resident parking spaces will remain in place.
The familiar cobblestone will be repaired and enhanced. Broken and missing stones will be replaced, with some intersecting asphalt-covered streets, including Berri and Bonsecours streets, to be resurfaced in cobblestone as well.
The work, which began in August on the easternmost segment, will be tackled in three phases:
- The eastern section between Place Jacques-Cartier and Berri Street, including Berri Street between Champ-de-Mars and de la Commune, as well as several other small adjoining streets.
- The section further west, between Place Jacques-Cartier and Saint-Sulpice Street.
- The area west of Saint-Sulpice to McGill streets, including the area around the Place Royale.
The first phase is expected to be completed by Nov. 2016. The project will be suspended in 2017, so as not to disrupt Montreal's 375th anniversary events.
Bonuses for timely work
Contractors will be awarded bonuses for completing their work in a timely fashion and will be penalized if the work runs behind schedule.
While St. Paul Street and adjacent streets are under construction, they will be barred to traffic, and road crews are expected to work seven days a week.
Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said that the project represents a "great moment for Montreal, a great day for the culture of the city."
When asked about the decision to eliminate 142 parking places, the mayor promised that number of spots will be created elsewhere in the area.
"I'm not going to make the parking spots go away," said Coderre. "If spots are lost, they will be moved somewhere else."