Yellow Line to shut on weekends
$10-million overhaul planned
The Société de Transport de Montréal announced last night the métro’s Yellow Line will be completely closed for repairs over 25 weekends in 2014, from March to May and from September to December. Andy Riga reports the repairs will be to tunnel ceilings and electrical systems, and that thousands of commuters will have to take shuttle buses.
The métro’s Yellow Line will be completely closed for repairs on 25 weekends in the spring and fall of 2014, forcing thousands of riders to take shuttle buses.
The announcement comes as South Shore drivers are increasingly being urged to take public transit instead of using clogged bridges.
The Yellow Line, which runs under the St. Lawrence River and connects Lon- gueuil, Île Ste-Hélène and downtown Montreal’s Berri-UQAM station, is used by 11,600 riders on Saturdays and 7,800 on Sundays.
The $10-million overhaul will include repairs to parts of the vaulted subway tunnel ceilings where water has seeped in over the years, the Société de transport de Montréal said in a statement late Wednesday.
The work will also involve channelling the water that seeps into the tunnel and upgrading electrical systems.
Contacted by The Gazette, a spokesperson would not say whether they are emergency repairs or if the work has been long planned.
More details are to be disclosed on Thursday.
The Yellow Line opened in the spring of 1967.
It’s not the first time the line has been closed for tunnel repairs. In 1997, it was shut for seven weekends.
This time, the line will be out of commission for much longer — on weekends from March to May and from Sep- tember to December.
During shutdowns, three shuttle-bus routes will be put into service. With departures every four to 10 minutes, they will run between:
Longueuil, Papineau Ave. and Berri-UQAM station
Longueuil and Jean-Drapeau Park
Berri-UQAM station, Papineau Ave. and the Montreal casino.
The weekend repairs will cause inconveniences but “no effort will be spared to provide an efficient (alternative) transport service,” Philippe Schnobb, who recently took over as the STM’s chair, said in the statement.
STM director-general Carl Desrosiers said the repairs are part of a “comprehen- sive maintenance program” and are required “to keep our infrastructure in good working condition and ensure the reliability of our network.”
He said the “safety of transit users is not at all at issue.”
It’s unclear if the repairs could be put off in the event of emergency lane closings on South Shore bridges such as those experienced recently after cracks were found on the Champlain Bridge.
Bridge maintenance and repairs take place on weekends but the bulk of the work is normally carried out in the summer, when the Yellow Line will be open.