Montreal's Mount Royal Park set to undergo largest expansion in 100 years

Mount Royal getting bigger and less car friendly The City of Montreal will transform 300 parking spaces on Mount Royal to green space.

Montreal's famed Mount Royal Park is set to undergo the largest expansion in 150 years.

The mountain will be expanded by three hectares, greened in several areas and redeveloped to strengthen and protect its ecological integrity.

Quebec is ceding the equivalent of five soccer fields near the old Royal Victoria Hospital to the city.

The land is currently a parking lot. Those spaces will be transformed into green space, part of Mayor Valerie Plante’s COP15 pledge to protect biodiversity.

"Mount Royal is the lungs of the city," said Plante, noting that the park represents 746 hectares of biodiversity.

That plan will only start in 10 years, but other changes will get underway sooner.

In 2024, the city will add more greenspace around Beaver Lake and Smith House by removing 40 per cent of the parking there.

"Every opportunity we have to put more green spaces in the city, we need to take it. There’s no time to waste," said Plante.

The city says it favours people visit the mountain with public transit or by bike.

Plante pointed to a study showing that other than weekends, the parking lots are largely empty.

"Do we want to support a heat island most of the year or create a green space that most people can enjoy?" said Plante.

The mayor said she's not trying to punish drivers, despite the removal of some 300 spaces.

"The mountain is under a lot of pressure. A lot of people are using the mountain, walking, skiing – it’s great but we want to make sure that we can protect the existing mountain and the biodiversity that lives there," she said.

The plan also includes planting 200 trees near Park Avenue and fencing off informal paths on the mountain to plant more trees and shrubs to protect the wildlife that lives here.

The park, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, was created in 1872 when the municipal administration of the time began expropriating land to protect the mountain.

"We can say that it was a visionary gesture," said the mayor.

- With files from The Canadian Press