Heated sidewalks were first announced in 2015 for parts of downtown Montreal. But it has taken time and weather to move forward. Now a team of researchers is off to visit Reykjavik in Iceland, Oslo in Norway and Stockholm in Sweden, to see how these winter cities have managed to keep some of their busiest sidewalks clear all through the season.
In Montreal, the plan is for a network of snaking garden-hose-sized tubes that will circulate a mixture of water and glycol, warmed by an electric heater, under a 670-metre-stretch of Ste-Catherine Street, the central commercial street in Montreal.
At 3 C, the pavement will be kept warm enough to prevent snow from accumulating, thus saving the need for much of the plowing and salting now used to keep sidewalks clear.
“[Heated sidewalks] will accentuate the commercial attraction of the city in the winter by allowing pedestrians and shoppers to walk on sidewalks that are clear most of the time,” city spokeswoman Geneviève Dubé told CBC Montreal.
“Accessibility will be improved by this fact, and damage to city property and trees will be reduced because there will be fewer snow-clearing operations.” she said.
Construction will begin in 2018, followed by a second phase two years later that would extend the heated surface to 2.2 kilometres.
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