Five new stations between the St-Michel stop and the Galeries d’Anjou mall are expected to be in service as of 2029, three years late.
The city’s transit agency launched a call for tenders Monday to build the tunnel that will serve as the extension of the métro’s blue line.
The winning bid is to be announced in the second half of 2023.
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The firm selected will be responsible for designing a tunnel boring machine and operating it between Pie-IX station and Anjou west. It will also be responsible for conventional tunnelling between Pie-IX station and the current tail end of the blue line, at St-Michel station. It will also excavate the new Viau and Lacordaire stations.
Promised since the 1980s, the project marks the first time in more than 30 years the métro is being expanded on the island. The last major expansion was completed in 2007, when the orange line was expanded by three stations in Laval.
As initially planned, the extension will span nearly six kilometres, adding five universally accessible métro stations in the boroughs of St-Léonard and Anjou, between the existing St-Michel stop and the Galeries d’Anjou mall.
It’s expected to be in service as of 2029 — three years later than the date first announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former Quebec premier Philippe Couillard in 2018.
The blue line extension is expected to draw more than 25,000 users, taking approximately 5,300 cars off the road. It will permit users to travel from Galeries d’Anjou to the Jean-Talon station within about 15 minutes.
This story will be updated.
jmagder@postmedia.com
twitter.com/jasonmagder
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Montreal's Blue Line métro extension ready to move forward — again
