Montreal Begins Demolition of Downtown Elevated Expressway

Andy Riga reports: "Montreal started tearing down its portion of the elevated Bonaventure Expressway this week, promising to replace it with two boulevards with a series of green spaces between them, by September 2017."

The expressway is owned partly by Ottawa (between the Champlain Bridge and the Lachine Canal) and partly by Montreal (from the canal to downtown). The elevated expressway was serving about 25,000 drivers per day prior to being closed for demolition, according to Riga.

The two boulevards running parallel to the elevated expressway will be reconfigured to handle the traffic, though with two fewer lanes in total than the previous configuration. The city aims to make the changes without increasing congestion by implementing "an 'intelligent transportation system' that will let the city adjust the timing of traffic lights according to traffic conditions." A proposed light rail line would also connect downtown to the South Shore neighborhoods formerly served by the expressway.

Planetizen first reported on the proposed demolition of the Bonaventure Expressway in December 2014.