New Montreal square lined with orange cones after reports of tripping, injuries

By Canadian Press on June 4, 2025.

MONTREAL — A brand new public square in Montreal is already lined with orange construction cones after reports of people tripping and falling.

The Place des Montrealaises is supposed to evoke a suspended blossoming meadow and pay tribute to influential Montreal women.

But La Presse reported this week that people have fallen and hurt themselves in an unmarked rain gutter that runs alongside the concrete sidewalk.

The city’s reflective orange pylons didn’t stop Karen Rowan from stumbling in the channel today as she crossed to take a picture.

The British tourist says the square’s design is beautiful but “maybe a little too artistic.”

The head of opposition party Ensemble Montreal has criticized the city’s planning and said safety can’t be an afterthought.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025.

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press