City set to award contract for 2nd phase of anniversary project on Mount Royal

The city is set to award a $993,754 contract for the second phase of its project to install granite rest stops and route markers around Mount Royal for Montreal’s 375th anniversary in 2017.

The city executive committee is expected to approve the latest contract, which calls for signs and information panels to be installed on lampposts along a four-kilometre section of Côte-des-Neiges Rd., at its weekly meeting on Wednesday. The contract would then go to the island council on Aug. 25 for final approval.

City council declared the winding road, stretching from Sherbrooke St. to Jean-Talon St., a founding route of Montreal in September 2013 to recognize its historical significance. The Sulpicians used it as part of a network of roads in the 1600s.

The road follows the trajectory of Raimbault Creek, which gave rise to farms and then the development of the Village of Côte-des-Neiges after tanners had settled near the supply of running water to make their leather. The village was incorporated into Montreal in the early 1900s.

The new contract calls for hanging about 80 acrylic signs on lampposts along Côte-des-Neiges between Sherbrooke and as far as north as Ellendale St., just above Côte-Ste-Catherine Rd.

Each sign will feature a pictogram showing one of five themes — the mountain, architectural heritage, the founding route, farming and the former village of Côte-des-Neiges. Some of the signs will be illuminated.

Accompanying the signs will be 81 interpretative panels that explain some historic feature of the street.

The contract also includes replacing about a dozen lampposts, repainting others, installing five seating areas along the street to provide views onto particular sites and electrical work.

The winning bidder is Aménagement Côté Jardin Inc., which in May won a $3.45-million contract for Phase 1 of the project to supply and install granite objects around Mount Royal. The cost of the Phase 1 contract was 27 per cent above the city’s estimate.

The new contract for the signs is 4.6 per cent, or $42,763, above the city’s estimate.

The first and second phase are part of an over-all project called “Escales découvertes” (“Discovery Stops”), which has an $8.26-million budget. The province is to finance half the cost.