Montreal releases $5.2 billion infrastructure spending plan

The City of Montreal intends to spend $5.2 billion on infrastructure projects over the next three years according to the city’s capital project works projections released this morning.

“This Three-Year Capital Works Program, my administration’s second, is based on the key orientations of the 2015-2024 Montréal Capital Investment Program that we implemented last year,” said Mayor Denis Coderre. “The Montréal Capital Investment Program has a 10-year plan to accelerate investments in order to meet the city’s investment needs as quickly as possible, especially its aging infrastructures.

“With this Three-Year Capital Works Program, we will remain focused on modernizing our assets and achieving new projects, while supporting the boroughs with considerable investments,” said Mayor Coderre.

The updated three-year plan calls for an investment increase of more than $678 million(15%). The projected budget for each of the next three years ranges from $1.6 billion in 2016 to nearly $2 billion in 2018.

The portion of the projected three-year total capital works budget under city council’s control is 53.8%, or  $2.8 billion. The portion of the budget under the urban agglomeration council’s control is 46.2% or $2.4 billion.

These investments are divided as follows:

• • Protecting and renovating elements of existing assets: $4,009 million (76.5%)
  • Developing infrastructures: $1,231 million (23.5%)

“(The program) sticks to the city’s long-term orientations that consist of allocating 75% of the Three-Year Capital Works Program to asset sustainability and 25% to building new amenities,” said Pierre Desrochers, chairman of the city’s executive committee.

“More than 56% of investments are related to road and underground infrastructures. We must be able to fund this increase without putting the city’s finances in danger,” explained Desrochers. “This is why our 10-year plan calls for an annual increase in cash payments of capital assets. This increase makes it possible to maintain loans as set out by the city’s debt management policy,”.

Investments by categories of assets

Here is the division of investments by categories of assets in the plan and the equivalents in terms of percentages:

• • Road infrastructures: $1,457 million: 27.8%
  • Environment and underground infrastructures: $1,493 million: 28.5%
  • Buildings: $1,097 million: 20.9%
  • Parks, green spaces and playing fields: $662 million – 12.6%
  • Furnishings and office equipment: $256 million: 4.9%
  • Vehicles: $115 million: 2.2%
  • Lots: $59 million: 1.1%
  • Machinery, specialized tools and equipment: $26 million: 0.5%
  • Other assets: $75 million: 1.5%

Main programs and projects, 2016-2018 Three-Year Capital Works Program

• • Repair of traffic arteries: $258 million
  • Repair of local roads, in addition to borough efforts: $180 million
  • Supplementary road levelling and surfacing program:  $170 million
  • Repair of road structures: $61.9 million
  • Upgrading street lighting: $50 million
  • Development of the bike path network, aiming to develop 50 km of bike paths each year: $45 million
  • Renovation work on major traffic arteries:
    • Renovation for the redevelopment of Complexe Turcot: $30.9 million
    • Redevelopment of Plaza St-Hubert: $25.8 million
    • Redevelopment of Avenue Papineau, between De Louvain Est and Boulevard Crémazie: $25.7 million
    • Connection of Boulevard Cavendish: $13.5 million
    • Redevelopment of the Rue Sherbrooke Est area: $4.5 million
  • Investments for water infrastructures, for a total of $1,247.3 million, namely:
    • $463 million for the secondary water main and sewer network renovation program
    • $166.3 for the ozone wastewater disinfection project  
    • $119.7 for projects to modernize six drinking water production plants (Atwater, Des Baillets, Dorval, Lachine, Pierrefonds and Pointe-Claire)
    • $75 million for the Rosemont and Dollard-Des Ormeaux reservoirs and pumping stations
    • $71.7 million for work on the Rockfield, William, Lavigne, Leduc and Marc-Aurèle-Fortin retention structures
    • $67.8 million for work on the network of primary water lines
  • Continuing infrastructure work to promote private investments and urban reclassification of several neighbourhoods:
    • Support for the Outremont Campus project and its surroundings, a project that will include a university district and that will strengthen Montréal’s role as a city of knowledge: $74.5 million
    • Consolidation of efforts in the Griffintown area: $46.5 million
    • Urban reclassification of the Namur–Jean-Talon Ouest area: $30.4 million
  • Upgrading borough service courses in order to harmonize services across Montréal and improve services to residents: $155.7 million
  • Developing and building five residual material processing infrastructures (two biomethanization processing centres, two composting centres and a pilot pre-processing center) which will begin operating in 2019 to 2024: $126.9 million
  • Protection and reconstruction of property assets of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) and the Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal (SSIM): $97.3 million
  • Bringing municipal arenas up to standard in support of the boroughs: $77.3 million
  • Implementing the “Montréal, Smart and Digital City Strategy”: $48.6 million
  • Completion of the last phase of the Quartier des spectacles, the development of Esplanade Clark: $46.9 million
  • Continuing projects and programs related to the 2013-2025 Montréal Aquatic Intervention Plan: $30.2 million
  • Continuing redevelopment of Square Dorchester and Place du Canada: $25.2 million
  • Implementing a renovation program for Montréal’s ball parks that aims to, in collaboration with the boroughs, make functional improvements to ball parks and bring them up to standard: $13 million
  • Continuing efforts to promote the creation of social and community housing, primarily through infrastructure investments: $8 million

Montréal’s 375th anniversary legacy

With a view to the celebrations of the 375th anniversary of Montréal’s founding, in 2017, the 2016-2018 Three-Year Capital Works Program calls for an investment budget of $329 million to carry out a number of unifying projects that will leave material legacies for Montréal residents.

• • Development of Parc Jean-Drapeau as a unique urban park, strengthening its vocation as an international-calibre recreational and tourist destination: $66.6 million
  • Redevelopment of Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest, from Mansfield to De Bleury: $48.5 million
  • Development of urban walkways from the mountain to the river: $35.8 million
  • Redevelopment of the Bonaventure Expressway, creating a user-friendly and prestigi
    ous entrance to downtown:  $33.3 million,
  • Reclassification of the area around the Ville-Marie Expressway (creating an identity-forming public space in the area around the Champ-de-Mars metro station) and redevelopment of Place Vauquelin: $30.5 million
  • Redevelopment of part of an urban park at the Complexe environnemental de Saint-Michel(whose 153 hectares will be completely accessible to the public in 10 years): $29.2 million
  • Redevelopment of Square Viger, which aims to provide access to Montréal’s first public square for all Montrealers: $28 million
  • Renewal of the Biodôme experience: $18.7 million
  • Expansion of the Pointe-à-Callière Museum (phase 2 of the Montréal Archaeology and History Complex – enhancement of the vestiges of Fort Ville-Marie and Callière’s residence):$17.9 million
  • Activities for the boroughs as part of Montréal’s 375th anniversary: $7.5 million
  • Redevelopment of the crossroads of Pie-IX–Sherbrooke (creating a new park that will be home to the artwork offered by Québec City for Montréal’s 375th anniversary): $6.9 million
  • Implementing the Mount Royal Discovery Stopovers: $5.5 million

All documents concerning the 2016-2018 Three-Year Capital Works Program are available on the city’s Web site: www.ville.montreal.qc.ca/english.