After three decades and multiple political promises, ground in Montreal’s east end was broken for the long-awaited blue line extension.
Work crews have begun preliminary construction on the $6.4-billion metro project.
Scheduled to be up and running by 2029, five new stations will be added to the underground public transit network.
The blue line will stop along Jean-Talon East at Pie-IX, Viau, Lacordaire, Langelier and Anjou.
“Basically what we are doing is relocating public utilities that are underground to make way for the massive excavation work that will begin in 2024, followed by the construction of the new stations,” Maha Clour, STM vice-president of operations, said.
Workers will be diverting underground infrastructure such as pipes and sewer lines to make way for the tunnel.
The transit authority is still in the process of finalizing a contract with a company to conduct the burrowing.
Clour said they hope to have the paperwork finalized by the end of the year.
“We will be using a tunnel burrowing machine for the excavation of this new tunnel. The whole massive excavation work will begin next year. The machine will arrive the following year. The excavation will be done underground,” Clour said.
For the local merchants association, the site of construction work in the area is exciting.
“We have waited a long time for this,” Paul Micheletti, president of the Jean-Talon East association, said.
“We’re happy. Hopefully, we see more traffic in the area once complete.”
The bulk of the funding for the metro extension project comes from the province, with a $1.3-billion contribution from the federal government.
The extension of the east-west blue line has been discussed, in various forms, since 1979, and no new subway stations have been built in Montreal since 1988.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said the extension would allow for further economic development of the city’s east end, including the building of some 13,000 housing units.
“The metro is just a little part of it. The planification and everything around it is really important for it to succeed,” Micheletti said.