Moncton's infamous subway overpass gets new look
Work by CN on the battered Main Street structure will be mainly cosmetic
Work began Tuesday on Moncton's infamous Main Street overpass in an effort to give the century-old structure a new look.
Through the years, the Moncton subway overpass, as it's called, has become notorious for snagging trucks, despite a yellow sign above the entrance, warning drivers not to attempt it in a vehicle taller than 11 feet.
This work will be purely esthetic though, and there are no plans to make the structure taller or the warning sign bigger.
- The never-ending story of a truck that got stuck under the Moncton overpass
- Moncton plans no new warning signs for overpass
Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold said the city has been in talks for a long time with CN, which owns the tracks on the overpass, and the railway company has agreed to do patching work over four days this week.
"It's structurally very sound, but it's not pretty if you walk underneath there," Arnold said.
She said the city will then look to hire an artist to paint the overpass.
"It will be painted and landscaped, and we are talking about the possibility of having a mural, and really good LED lights through it … just to spruce it up, because it is going to be a very important conduit to the downtown centre," she said.
"It's a gateway in our city and it's important that it looks better," Arnold said.
Though the mayor doesn't yet have all the details of what the overpass will look like, she confirmed the structure won't go back to its pink of the 1970s.
Meanwhile, the opening of the events centre is on time for September.
The first big event announced so far, a Keith Urban concert, is almost sold out.