Like a massive Lego block set, work crews are putting together all the pieces to install a massive footbridge that will tower well above the Décarie Expressway.
Carbonleo, the developer of the Royalmount commercial real estate project, is building and paying for the 200-metre skywalk that will link the de la Savane metro station with Royalmount.
The enclosed footpath is scheduled to be installed this weekend but it’s unclear when it will open to the public.
Carbonleo forecasts the enclosed footpath will be able to accommodate up to 10 million pedestrians a year.
Transports Québec is closing the southbound direction of the Décarie Expressway from Friday at 11:59 p.m. to Monday at 5 a.m. to install a new support beam to the de la Savane overpass.
Carbonleo is taking advantage of the highway closing to complete the major work on its skybridge.
“It’s a good thing. It will help pedestrians move from the metro to the project,” Martin Girard, a spokesperson for Transports Québec, told Global News.
Almost 140,000 vehicles use the Décarie Expressway every day. Girard is warning drivers to avoid the area between March 22 and 25.
“We expect a lot, a lot of traffic, so stay away from the area if possible,” he said.
The mayor of the town of Mount Royal welcomes the new pedestrian bridge but fears some drivers may try to use the local roads as a bypass.
“Maybe there will be or maybe people will just say, ‘You know what, there is going to be so much congestion, I’m not going to take my care,'” Peter Malouf told Global News.
The mayor is not convinced the footbridge will be as popular as the developers anticipate for shoppers.
“I think a lot of people who are going to go shopping may not want necessarily to take a long walkway to get to their shopping destination and then take a long walkway to get back,” he said.
The mayor is also concerned about the amount of traffic that the new complex may attract to the area once it’s built and open to the public. Malouf says it’s something his town is closely monitoring.
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