Montreal may pedestrianize part of Sainte-Catherine Street in the Village all year round

Montreal is reportedly considering the possibility of making Sainte-Catherine Street E. in the Village pedestrian only all year round.

According to La Presse, the idea was put forward on Tuesday evening during a meeting between the city and a neighbourhood association. The plan would be to permanently pedestrianize the street from Émilie-Gamelin Park to the Jacques-Cartier Bridge.

If the plan goes through, it would make it the longest permanent pedestrian artery in Montreal, at about one kilometre long.

“We have an opportunity in the coming years where we will be renovating the entire street,” said Mayor Valerie Plante. “So once this is closed, what (do) we want to create with St. Catherine? Everything’s on the table.”

Two other options were presented: pedestrianizing a smaller central section all year round, starting at Atateken Street and going east, or maintaining the status quo, which is keeping the stretch of the street pedestrianized temporarily, only during the summer.

The Village’s commercial development corporation is expected to send a survey to merchants by the end of the week to present the ideas.

The city may decide on it during the summer, as it starts to implement the complete renovation of Sainte-Catherine Est — a project planned from 2025 to 2030.

Last week, the city awarded a $16 million contract for the design and construction of the project.

Montreal last June launched a strategy to revitalize the historic 2SLGBTQ+ district after residents and business owners raised safety concerns amid intersecting homelessness, drug use and mental health issues in the area.

Plante and the city councilor for the district of Saint-Jacques in the borough of Ville-Marie, Robert Beaudry, held press conference in the Village Thursday to present the progress of the Village’s Collective Intervention Strategy. They also inaugurated the Village Square on Atataken and Ste-Catherine.