Royalmount mega-mall promises highway footbridge

In time to woo new Montreal Mayor Valrie Plante, the developer of a proposed mega-mall is proposing a footbridge accessible to both pedestrians and cyclists, connecting the mall to the De la Savane Metro station.

The controversial project would span232,257 square metres, nestled at the junction of Highways 15 and 40,earning it the nickname Quinze40.

• TMR mega mall faces mounting opposition

The mall's official name so far is Royalmount, named after the Town of Mount Royal, as it would fall within the municipality's limits.

ThoughMontreal MayorValriePlantehas said she willneed to analyze the project before taking a position, ProjetMontral's Luc Ferrandez,the borough mayor ofPlateau-Mont-Royal, has beenone of the mall's most vocal opponents.

He has said the shopping centre would multiply traffic and pollution in the area, and that it would centralize business, hurting the local economy and mom-and-pop shops.

• Residents, merchants speak out against Royalmount mega-mall proposal

"I hate it," Ferrandez told CBCNews in 2015, shortly after the project was announced.

"Montreal is at a turning point. We have to choose between our own identity or accepting an American way of life, and maybe a Dubai way of life."

Other critics have said it would take away from the vitality of individual city streets.

TMRmayor brushes off criticism

But TMRmayorPhilippe Roy, whohas backed the project since its inception, says the footbridge was his idea, not a direct response to critics on the part of developer Carbonleo.

"It's estimated that nearly 40 per cent of people who will frequent the complex, the centre, will transit through De la Savanemetro station," Roy said.

Roy, who was re-elected unopposed this fall, brushed off criticisms the mall would kill local business.

• Quinze40 mega mall approved by Town of Mount Royal

"There won't be any shoemakers going there, no tailors going there. We're talking mainly about entertainment centres," he said.

"I think it will compete more with Carrefour Laval or the Centropolis in Laval than a small restaurant inCte-des-Neiges or Ville Mont-Royal."

Carbonleosays the centre would include an aquatics park, outdoor cinema, a skating rink, restaurants, terraces and two hotels.

Cirque du Soleilsays it's interested in having a "creative project on the site of Royalmount," its spokespersonMarie-Hlne Lagac confirmed.

• Royalmount mega-mall, unofficially dubbed 'Quinze40', to feature waterpark, outdoor cinema

The mall is expected to cost $1.7 billion. Carbonleosays it hopes to meet with the city soon to show how the project's development is evolving and discuss how it will inject 35,000 jobs into the Town of Mount Royal.

Transports du Qubechas confirmed it approved the first step of Carbonleo'srequest for the footbridge above Highway 15.