Montreal takes steps to beautify space next to Champ-de-Mars Metro

Montrealerswill beable to access a new public space next to Champ-de-Mars Metro station as of Monday morning the area has been walled off for more than a year.

The square is opening temporarily, with amulticolourgeometric design painted on astretch of pavement.

As part of the temporary opening,the city is installing benches and additional street lighting in an effort to make the space both more welcoming and more secure.

"We can only rejoice that construction sites which begin also end," said Montreal MayorValriePlante.

The area is a hotspot for tourists accessing Old Montreal from Champ-de-Mars Metro station.

The opening is only temporary because the site is currently part of an international landscape design competition which was announced last summer.

Once completed, the space will be called PlacedesMontralaisesin honour of notable Montreal women, like Jeanne Mance.

The ultimate goal is to create an attractive urban space out of the area cut by the Ville-Marie Expressway trench in the 1970s.

The budget for renovating the squareis $39.9 million a figure that balloons to $74.4 million withpreliminary studies and site preparation work.

Problems with Viger Square

The new face of Viger Square, a bit further east, has been negatively affectingthe area because it blocked a pedestrian tunnel out of Champ-de-Mars Metro station.

• Montreal reveals full plans for Viger Square makeover

The new square was to be presented for Montreal's 375th anniversary, but obstacles snowballed.

Structural problems were found underneath the Ville-Marie Expressway, which delayed the work by one year.

The pedestrian walkway was blocked so it could be used as a base of operations by the transport ministry while work is done.

That project is now expected to be completed by December2019 but the pedestrian walkway will reopen in January 2018.

• Ville-Marie Expressway rooftop park construction begins next spring