The iconic balls are coming back to Montreal’s Village. The colourful spheres suspended above Sainte-Catherine Street East have become a symbol of the neighbourhood and the city, Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada said at a news conference Thursday. The art installation was taken down in 2019. The mayor was also on hand to announce that her administration was moving forward with the Sainte-Catherine Street East project, which was part of her election campaign last year. “The Village deserves better than a copy-and-paste project. Montrealers deserve a project that is sustainable, responsible and built to last. Therefore, we have revised the project and we have, I believe, improved it,” she said. As part of the project, the city plans to redevelop 1.3 kilometres of Sainte-Catherine Street East between Berri Street and De Lorimier Avenue, including a one-kilometre pedestrian-only section between Berri and Papineau Avenue. The section will feature a flexible design that allows it to be converted into a shared street as needed. The previous administration had planned to make the street pedestrian-only year-round. The redesigned project keeps that option open while still allowing vehicle access when needed. “Our ambition remains the same: to make Sainte-Catherine Street East an exceptional pedestrian destination,” Martinez Ferrada said. “Personally, I dream of a pedestrian-only street all the way from Papineau to Atwater. It could become one of the longest pedestrian streets in the world.” The project also includes a complete rebuild of water mains and sewer lines, as well as the rehabilitation and integration of green underground infrastructure to improve stormwater management. The city will also plant 270 trees. The plan also calls for the use of durable construction materials better adapted to Montreal’s climate. The terrazzo will be replaced with concrete and granite. The administration has also selected street furniture crafted in the city’s own workshops by blue-collar workers, allowing damaged parts to be replaced quickly and the space to be adapted for different seasons and events. “Winter pedestrianization requires an enormous amount of programming along with robust commercial vitality to ensure its success,” the mayor said. “That is why we chose a flexible layout, a street where pedestrians always have priority, but where we retain the flexibility to adapt its operations based on their needs. We will do this hand-in-hand with local business owners. We will evaluate the optimal conditions.” She also said the design will facilitate faster emergency response times. Francis Gaudreault, owner of Armada, said the flexibility will make it easier to close the street for events. “The fact that we’ll be able to shut down the street in the winter and the spring, in the summer, if we plan to do these festivals, like let’s say we want to do a Christmas market, we’ll be able to close the street down in the winter much more efficiently, much more quickly than we currently can,” Gaudreault said. After years of waiting, the Village’s business association said having a timeline for the project brings some certainty. “We’ve been telling them for four, five, six years, the city is going to redo the streets. Not having that much information for the last years has been increasing the stress for the merchants,” said Gabrielle Rondy, executive director of the SDC du Village. She hopes the project helps keep existing businesses and fill vacant storefronts. The mayor also underscored some of the actions her administration has made to beef up security in the area, including a $1.4-million investment in social mediation brigades, which she said helps improve cohabitation, and an increased security presence in parks. A specialized lighting system will also be installed to better illuminate the street during the winter months. “Sainte-Catherine Street East is more than just a simple street. It’s a commercial artery; it’s a cultural and tourist artery and has been deeply rooted in the identity of the neighbourhood,” she said. When asked about the budget, Martinez Ferrada said the project had remained within the previously announced budget. The work is slated to begin in the fall of 2027 and will continue through 2030.
