Ville-Marie Expressway rooftop park construction begins next spring

Construction gets underway next year to cover a stretch of the Ville-Marie Expressway.

Workers will begin on the 125-metre section between Hôtel-de-Ville Avenue and Sanguinet Street next spring.

The project is expected to cost the Quebec government less than $100 million.

The city will then build a park on top of the expressway for roughly $31 million.

Link between Old Montreal and downtown

The plan was unveiled Monday by Quebec Transport Minister Robert Poeti.

Poeti said the green space is intended to provide some verdant relief to the area for the French CHUM superhospital and eliminate a barrier between Old Montreal and downtown.

He said the work will make the area safer for drivers and more welcoming for pedestrians.

Montreal motorists, however, will be losing a familiar route as the Sanguinet off-ramp from the Ville-Marie Expressway east will be destroyed.

The Saint-Laurent/St-Denis highway exit will remain open, but the fork in the road will be eliminated and all vehicles will be forced to turn onto St-Denis Street.

St-Denis will be altered to accept the new vehicular volume, as two lanes of cars will be permitted to turn left.

'Surrounded by highways': Projet Montréal

A member of the opposition Projet Montreal party expressed doubts about the plan.

"We're stunned by what was presented this morning," said Valérie Plante of Projet Montréal.

"It doesn't fill the main purpose, the objective of covering the Ville-Marie is to make a public space to make it accessible from one place to the other."

She noted that there will still be major traffic to navigate for those who want to continue through the park to Old Montreal.

"It will still be surrounded by highways," said Plante.

For his part, Poeti said the closure of the Sanguinet ramp might represent a small inconvenience to some motorists but also noted that fewer cars might be on city roads in the future.

"The key to having less cars in big cities is public transit. We are working hard together to improve public transit and the answer is to give alternative to the citizens," he said.