Although it moved into new premises on Berri Street more than a decade ago, the Gare d’autocars de Montréal is still waiting for the interior corridor that will connect its facilities to the Berri-UQAM metro station. And it will have to be patient, because the City of Montreal, owner since 2018 of the old station located at the corner of boulevard De Maisonneuve and rue Berri, has still not determined what will become of the promised link.
When they arrive by bus in Montreal, travelers who want to take the metro must leave the station, walk south with their luggage on the sidewalk of rue Berri, rain or shine, and rush into the entrance from the Berri-UQAM station located north of boulevard De Maisonneuve. The place is not particularly welcoming for travelers and tourists. “The kiosk is completely unsanitary and dangerous,” said Carl Filiatreault, spokesperson for the Gare d’autocars de Montréal.
The aedicula [de la station Berri-UQAM] is completely unsanitary and dangerous
The station does not own the premises it occupies, the building having been sold by the Quebec government to the Aquilini Group for $45.5 million in 2013 following the financial fiasco of the Voyageur island project. 15 years ago. However, his lease includes a clause that guarantees him a right of way to the Berri-UQAM metro station. Remember that in the initial plans, drawn up before the scandal of the Voyageur island broke, an interior corridor was planned up to the metro station. But this clause of the lease is of no use for the moment since the fate of the neighboring building, which would make it possible to build a link to the metro, is not known.
This building, located in the southern part of the Voyageur block, was acquired by the City of Montreal in 2018 at a cost of $18 million. “Everyone has been waiting for the City of Montreal since 2018 to find out what it will do with this building,” says Carl Filiatreault. We don’t have a deadline. »
This building is currently occupied on a temporary basis by bicycle delivery providers from the Colibri project as well as by non-profit organizations, including Les Valoristes and the Sentier urbain. In 2020, the City had planned to install a municipal administrative center and social and affordable housing there, and had carried out a pre-feasibility study. “However, due to the context of the pandemic and the City’s new teleworking approach, the initial program of the project is being revised”, explained by email Hugo Bourgoin, public relations officer at the City of Montreal.
The City still intends to develop social and affordable housing there, but no decision has yet been made as to the other vocations of the site. “A tunnel linking the future building and the Berri-UQAM metro station will be studied as part of this new program,” says Mr. Bourgoin.
The STM construction site
The coach station is not at the end of its troubles since the sector will host a major construction site in the coming years. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) must replace the waterproofing membrane covering the Berri-UQAM station, in place since its inauguration in 1966. This project will require major excavation work. The first phase, which will begin at the end of April, will focus on the section of boulevard De Maisonneuve located between rue Sanguinet and rue Berri. The worksite will then move to rue Berri, between rue Ontario and rue Sainte-Catherine, in 2024 and 2025. The section located in front of the bus station will not be affected by the work.
“Buses will be able to access the station at any time. In fact, the impacts for the bus station will be minimal, because it is located further north of our worksite,” assures Amélie Régis, spokesperson for the STM. She adds that access to the station, from the metro entrance, will not be obstructed and that pedestrians will be able to continue to circulate there.
However, the “customer journey” may suffer, but Carl Filiatreault recognizes the need for the STM to carry out this work. “It’s not a luxury. It will be better afterwards too. As for the future corridor leading to the metro, he continues to believe that it will be realized one day, especially since the site where it is to be developed is public property.
The quadrilateral of the Voyageur block has been the subject of much ink over the past two decades. Launched in 2005 by UQAM, the Voyageur island project was supposed to house student residences, but it ultimately turned into a money pit in which 300 million were swallowed up. The construction of the two buildings located in the northern part of the quadrilateral had been suspended for several years and the concrete structures had been exposed to the weather until the Aquilini Group took possession of them in 2013.