After four years of work, the Mont-Royal metro station will become accessible to everyone. Metro users will be able to use the elevator to access one of the most popular avenues in the metropolis.
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The work, which began in 2018 at a cost of $50 million, aimed to expand the station and install elevators. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) officially presented the new entrance to its station on Tuesday morning.
"There were decisions made in the 1990s, where we reduced the size of the entrance hall, but we have since found ourselves with a meteoric increase in traffic," explained Éric Alan Caldwell, chairman of the board of administration of the STM.
According to him, 17,000 people a day use the station daily.
Although the station was inaugurated on Tuesday, work is still in progress. Inside the station, the escalators are not yet installed, a temporary wall having been put in place at their location. Everything should be finished in the fall.
Outside, other construction sites are also visible, while the City of Montreal is redoing Place Gérald-Godin, which surrounds the station.
Among the additions to the station are two fixed staircases connecting the platforms at street level. A pedestrian tunnel above the track makes it possible to go from one platform to another, and two elevators also facilitate movement.
The station is also very bright, while many windows have been installed. The places are also more spacious and facilitate circulation.
"Our metro was not designed for elevators," Caldwell said. To redesign a station, we face technical constraints that are not easily overcome, which require the best of ourselves,” he explained.
In particular, the STM teams had to reinforce the vault of the station so that it could support the weight of the additional equipment, and in order to be able to excavate in complete safety.
Currently, 11 other universal accessibility projects are underway in various metro stations in Montreal. By 2025, a total of 30 stations should have elevators.
“We welcome the inauguration of the new Mont-Royal station entrance, which will be accessible to everyone. It should be remembered, however, that Projet Montréal is progressing at a snail's pace in making metro stations universally accessible,” said Christine Black, Official Opposition spokesperson for public transit and mobility.
Accessibility
Borough councilor in Le Plateau – Mont-Royal, Laurence Parent uses a wheelchair herself. For her, the accessibility of the station “changes so many things”.
She remembers, shortly after arriving in Montreal 20 years ago, wanting to take the station to join a friend.
“I have the memory of having arrived here, and of understanding that I would not be able to surrender. I knew the metro wasn't accessible, but that's when I experienced it for the first time and understood what it meant," she said.
For her, it is essential that the metro be accessible to everyone, as it is an essential tool for getting around the city.
Enthusiasm
On site, users seem to unanimously appreciate the new design of the station. However, several people interviewed by the QMI Agency deplore the current absence of escalators, while many floors separate the platforms from the surface.
“Climbing so many flights of stairs is exhausting! In itself it's better, and it's more modern, but the problem is the stairs," noted Anouar.
“The design is super attractive, but there are a lot of stairs,” Benyoussef said.
Raphaëlle, for her part, still has to familiarize herself with the new configuration of the premises. “I take it every day to go to work. At first, I was a little lost since it's not at all like before, but otherwise, I think it's well done," she said.
Throughout the work, however, the station remained accessible to the public.
