Montreal to Transform Downtown into AI Laboratory for Construction Management
Montreal is embarking on an ambitious initiative to revolutionize how construction sites are planned in its downtown core, with a specific focus on eliminating the ubiquitous orange traffic cones that have long symbolized the city's perpetual roadwork. Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada announced the plan on Thursday, February 12, 2026, during a press conference at a worksite on Ste-Catherine Street.
"Orange cones cannot be the symbol of Montreal," Mayor Martinez Ferrada declared emphatically. "This space will become a living, real-time laboratory for how to better optimize and plan construction sites." The announcement is part of her administration's broader strategy to integrate artificial intelligence into municipal operations to alleviate traffic congestion and improve urban efficiency.
Downtown as an Innovation Zone
The designated "innovation zone" encompasses the area bordered by St-Laurent Boulevard and Sherbrooke, Guy, and de la Commune Streets. This pilot project will serve as a testing ground for new approaches to construction site management before potential expansion to other busy sectors of the city.
"When you try to do it for the whole city at the same time, it's too big," Martinez Ferrada explained. "You have to make small improvements and show that they work before applying them to other sectors." She highlighted Old Montreal as another area in desperate need of better planning, citing last year's issues where parallel street closures disrupted deliveries and resident access.
AI Integration and Alternative Solutions
The city is actively engaging with Quebec's transport department to explore alternatives to traditional orange cones within the innovation zone. Martinez Ferrada pointed to cities like Ottawa and Paris as examples where construction sites often utilize more visually appealing signage or temporary walls instead of conventional cones.
Beyond physical changes, Montreal is establishing an advisory committee on artificial intelligence to determine optimal applications at the municipal level. The city hopes to involve local companies and startups in this process and is investigating "digital twin" technology—creating a virtual replica of Montreal that can simulate the effects of street closures before implementation.
Cautious Optimism About AI Implementation
City Councillor Alexandre Teodoresco, the executive committee member responsible for optimization and innovation, expressed measured enthusiasm about using AI for construction planning. "AI is not a magic wand, it won't fix everything with a snap of the fingers," he cautioned. "But we need to allow ourselves to try all kinds of new tools. And to fail quickly, too, and learn from those errors."
Mayor Martinez Ferrada acknowledged public concerns about over-reliance on artificial intelligence, emphasizing that the advisory committee will address these questions directly. She clarified that AI should serve as a tool to help employees manage overwhelming data about worksites, not replace human workers.
"AI has to be a tool, and not something that will replace our workers," she asserted. "Because at the end of the day, we humans are responsible for what we decide to do."
Broader Context and Future Expansion
The downtown initiative represents one of several campaign promises Mayor Martinez Ferrada pledged to implement within her first 100 days in office, which concludes on February 20. The administration views construction site optimization as an ideal problem for AI solutions due to the complex data involved in coordinating multiple projects simultaneously.
If successful, the city intends to apply lessons learned from the downtown laboratory to other high-traffic areas across Montreal. The mayor described the current number of planned construction sites in the downtown core as "dizzying," underscoring the urgent need for improved coordination and planning methodologies.
