Quebec officials dismantle homeless camp under Montreal highway

Quebec officials have dismantled a homeless encampment beneath an elevated Montreal highway ahead of a major roadwork project and following a months-long legal battle.

The province's Transport Department says the last of the camp's residents departed this morning and department personnel were in the process of clearing the site to make way for repair work to begin on the Ville-Marie Expressway.

The ministry last week issued a final notice to camp residents to vacate the area and says it has made storage units for personal belongings available to many of them through October.

A legal clinic representing more than a dozen of the camp residents has argued that their eviction threatens their lives and security.

A Quebec Superior Court judge in June rejected the clinic's request for a postponement of the eviction, citing in part the potential negative economic and human consequences of delaying work on the highway.

The three-year, $36-million project is set to include repairs to the concrete structure holding the highway and the replacement of its drainage and lighting systems.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 11, 2023.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.