Underground City, Montreal
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|
Westmount | |
Opening date | 1962 |
---|---|
No. of stores and services | +1600 |
No. of floors | Usually 3 or 4, sometimes 2 |
RÉSO, commonly referred to as the Underground City (
Though most of the connecting tunnels pass underground, many of the key passageways and principal access points are located at ground level, and there is also one skybridge (between
The network is particularly useful during Montreal's long winters, during which time well over half a million people are estimated to use it every day. The network is largely climate controlled and well-lit, and is arranged in a U-shape with two principal north–south axes connected by an east–west axis. Combined, there are 32 kilometres (20 mi) of tunnels over 12 square kilometres (4.6 sq mi) of the most densely populated part of Montreal. In total, there are more than 120 exterior access points to the network, not including the sixty or so Metro station entrances located outside the official limits of the RÉSO, some of which have their own smaller tunnel networks. Some of the city's larger institutions, namely McGill University, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Concordia University, Université de Montréal and the Université du Québec à Montréal also have campus tunnel networks separate from the underground city.
Overview
In 2004, the downtown network of the underground city was re-branded and given the name RÉSO, which is a
The underground city is promoted as an important tourist attraction by most Montreal travel guidebooks, and as an urban planning achievement it is impressive.[citation needed] For most Montrealers, however, it tends to be considered more as a large mall complex[citation needed] linking Metro stations—they may not even know they are in it. Many Canadian cities have some kind of tunnel or skywalk system downtown to help people avoid the weather. Most parts of the Montreal underground city are open while the Metro is in operation (5:30 AM to 1:00 AM), though some are closed outside of business hours. Maps of the underground city and the Metro can be obtained free of charge from all Metro stations, and the network of buildings is indicated on most maps of the downtown core.
Nearly 500,000 people use it per day.[citation needed] It is also the largest underground complex in the world.[citation needed] It stretches for 32 kilometers (20 miles) and covers 4 million square meters (one and a half square miles). According to official statistics, its corridors link up with 10 metro stations, 2 bus terminals, 1,200 offices, about 2,000 stores including 2 major department stores, approximately 1,600 housing units, 200 restaurants, 40 banks, movie theatres providing 40 screens and other entertainment venues, 7 major hotels, 4 universities, Place des Arts, a cathedral, the Bell Centre (home of the Montreal Canadiens), and 3 exhibition halls: the Place Bonaventure, the Convention Centre (Palais des Congrès de Montréal) and the Olympic Centre.
History of the central segment
The vision for the underground city was originally that of
The advent of the
Adding to the development of the underground city was the Montreal Urban Community Transit Commission's policy of offering the aerial rights above Metro station entrances for construction through
In 1974, the
Between 1984 and 1992, the underground city expanded, with the construction of three major linked shopping centres in the Peel and McGill Metro station areas: Cours Mont-Royal, Place Montréal-Trust, and the
Mega-projects added to the size of the network throughout the 1990s, including Le
Most recently, in 2003, the complete redevelopment of the
Structural concerns, 2007 closure
On Friday, August 24, 2007, construction crews discovered a seven-meter (23 foot) long fissure in the ceiling of an underground corridor linking the
During the weekend, city workcrews worked non-stop to shore up the sagging slab of concrete, installing more than 1,000 temporary metal supports.
On Monday, August 27, 2007, service was restored to the Green Line, and all streets but the block of de Maisonneuve boulevard between Union and Aylmer were reopened to traffic. The one block that was not open to traffic was open to pedestrians. All buildings reopened, including The Bay. Officials said that it would take months to fix the problem.[4][5][6] While inspecting the site, it was discovered that 2021 Union, the Parkade Montreal building, was in danger of having concrete side panels fall off.[citation needed] City engineers performed emergency repairs. A report later blamed the construction of a bike path for the damage.[7] Street traffic on De Maisonneuve resumed in March 2008.
Central segment
The central segment interconnects the following seven Metro stations via indoor walkway. As the
- Place Bonaventure
- STM headquarters
- (access to Square-Victoria-OACI Metro station via ICAO Building)
- Place Ville-Marie
- (access to McGill Metro station via Le Centre Eaton)
- (access to McGill Metro station via Le
- Édifice Gare Windsor – former Canadian Pacific Railwayheadquarters
- (access to Lucien-L'Allier Metro station via Bell Centre)
- 1250 René Lévesque
- Place du Canada – Château Champlain Hotel
- AMT and Amtrak
- Les Halles de la Gare
- CN headquarters
- Queen Elizabeth Hotel
- Le 1000 de La Gauchetière
- RTL Terminus Centre-Ville(suburban bus terminal)
Square-Victoria-OACI
- ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization)
- (access to Bonaventure Metro station via Place Bonaventure)
- Place de la Cité internationale
- CDP (Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec)
- W Hotel
- (access to Place-d'Armes Metro station via Palais des Congrès)
- Centre de commerce mondial de Montréal
- Canada Steamship Lines Building
- InterContinental Hotel
- Le St. James Hotel
- Place Victoria
- Tour de la Bourse (Montreal Exchange)
- Hôtel Delta Centre-Ville
- Complexe Maisonneuve
- 1080 Beaver Hall Hill
- Tour Aimia/Altoria
Place-d'Armes
- Palais des congrès de Montréal
- (access to Square-Victoria-OACI Metro station via Place de la Cité internationale)
- 205 Rue Viger Ouest – Collège supérieur de Montréal
- Complexe Guy-Favreau (Government of Canada)
- (access to Place-des-Arts Metro station via Complexe Desjardins)
Place-des-Arts
- Complexe Desjardins
- Hôtel DoubleTree by Hilton
- (access to Place-d'Armes Metro station via Complexe Guy-Favreau)
- UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal)
- Président-Kennedy
- Chimie et Biochimie
- Coeur des Sciences
- Sciences Biologiques
- Sherbrooke
- Arts IV
- Président-Kennedy
- Place des Arts
Peel
- Carrefour Industrielle Alliance (formerly Simpsons)
- Cinema Banque Scotia (IMAX) (formerly Cinema Paramount)
- Simons
- (access to McGill Metro station via Place Montréal Trust)
- Royal & Sun Alliance
- Tour La Maritime
- Place Montreal Trust
- Tour Scotia
- Centre Mont-Royal
- Le 2000 Peel
- Roots Canada
- Les Cours Mont-Royal
McGill
- Complexe Les Ailes)
- (access to Bonaventure Metro station via Place Ville-Marie/Gare Centrale)
- Place Montreal Trust
- (access to Peel Metro station via Carrefour Industrielle-Alliance)
- Tour Industrielle-Vie
- 1801 McGill College Avenue building
- 2020 Robert-Bourassa
- Place London Life/Les Galeries 2001 University
- McGill University – 688 Sherbrooke building
- The Bay
- Le Parkade (2021 Union)
- Promenades Cathédrale/KPMG Tower
Lucien-L'Allier
- Centre Bell
- (access to Bonaventure Metro station via Édifice Gare Windsor)
- Delson-Candiaclines
- Windsor Station – former Canadian Pacific Railway headquarters
Other downtown segments
Berri-UQAM
The hub of the Metro network located two Metro stations east of
- UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal)buildings
- Judith-Jasmin
- Athanase-David
- Design
- Hubert-Aquin
- Sciences de la gestion
- J.-A. de Sèves
- Centre Pierre-Péladeau
- Thérèse-Casgrain
- Paul-Gérin-Lajoie
- Grande Bibliothèque du Québec
- Gare d'autocars de Montréal
- Place Dupuis (shopping and office complex)
- Hôtel des Gouverneurs
Guy-Concordia
Located one Metro station west of
- Concordia University
- Guy Metro Annex (GM) Building
- Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts (EV) Complex
- John Molson School of Business
- J.W. McConnell (LB) Building
- Henry F. Hall (H) Building
Atwater
One Metro station west of
- Place Alexis Nihonshopping, office and residential complexes
- Westmount Square shopping, office and residential complexes
- Dawson College, a major CEGEP
Champ-de-Mars
One metro station away from Place D’Armes, Champ-de-Mars is located right next to the new Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM). It is located near Montreal’s historic buildings and streets in Old Montreal as well as the Old Port.
Other segments
Pie-IX
- Olympic Stadium
- RIO (Régie des installations olympiques)
- Regroupement Loisirs Québec
Jean-Talon
This station is the eastern transfer point between the
- Tour Jean-Talon
Université-de-Montréal
Situated on the Blue line in between
- Pavillon Roger Gaudry
- Pavillon Claire-McNicoll
- Pavillon René-J.-A.-Levesque
- Pavillon André-Aisenstadt
- Pavillion Jean-Coutu
- Pavillion Marcelle-Coutu
- Garage Louis-Colin
- Pavillon Samuel-Bronfman
- Pavillon Maximilien-Caron
- Pavillon Lionel-Groulx
- Pavillon 3200, rue Jean-Brillant
- HEC Montréal – 5255, Avenue Decelles
Édouard-Montpetit
Situated on the blue line between Université-de-Montréal and Outremont stations, this station serves many Université de Montréal buildings and will be connected to the future Réseau express métropolitain.
- CEPSUM (Centre d'éducation physique et des sports de l'Université de Montréal)
Vendôme
- McGill University Health Centre (Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal Children's Hospital, Montreal Chest Institute, Cedars Cancer Centre, MUHC Research Institute)
- Shriners Hospital for Children – Canada
- Brunswick Medical Centre
Montmorency (off-island)
As the terminus of the Orange Line , this station is a major hub for bus transportation in Laval and the north shore.
- University of Montreal– Laval campus
Longueuil–Université-de-Sherbrooke (off island)
As the terminus of the Yellow Line , this station is a major hub for bus transportation on the south shore.
- Shopping, office, and residential complexes
- South shore bus terminal for RTL, CIT & OMIT lines
- Satellite campuses of the following universities:
Hotels
- Marriott Château Champlain—Bonaventure
- Hôtel Le Reine Elizabeth—Bonaventure
- Hôtel InterContinental—Square Victoria OACI
- Hôtel Le St. James—Square Victoria OACI
- Hôtel Doubletree by Hilton Montreal-Place-des-Arts
- Hôtel Place Dupuis - Ascent by Choice Hotels—Berri UQAM (previously Hôtel des Gouverneurs)
- Hôtel Bonaventure—Bonaventure (previously Hilton Bonaventure Montreal)
- W Hotel Montreal at Square Victoria—Square Victoria OACI
- Hôtel Le Westin Montreal—Square Victoria OACI
Special events
Every February, Art Souterrain presents a journey through the central segment of the Underground City during the Montreal Highlights Festival, showing contemporary artistic projects.[8]
See also
- Underground city
- Edmonton Pedway
- Plus 15, a similar skywalk system in Calgary
- PATH (Toronto)
References
- ^ "Un hommage à l'initiateur du Montréal souterrain". Médias Transcontinental S.E.N.C. 2006-11-19. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
- ^ "City core in chaos". Archived from the original on 2007-08-27. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
- ^ Sara Champagne, Bruno Bisson et Martin Croteau : Le centre-ville paralysé | Actualités | Cyberpresse
- ^ "Montreal streets, subway line reopen after tunnel repairs". CBC News. 2007-08-27.
- ^ CTV.ca | Subway, stores reopen in Mtl. after tunnel scare Archived 2007-08-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "De Maisonneuve fix to take months". Archived from the original on 2007-12-05. Retrieved 2007-08-27.
- ^ Magder, Jason (2008-02-27). "Bay study blames de Maisonneuve bike path for crack in underground". Montreal Gazette. Canwest. Archived from the original on 2008-04-03. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
- ^ "Montreal Downtown & Underground event, Montreal Highlights Festival". Archived from the original on 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
External links
- Montreal Underground City Website dedicated to the underground city of Montreal
- Maps (in PDF format) including the underground city, provided by the Société de transport de Montréal
- Map of the indoor city (in PDF format), provided by the Montreal City Council