In preparation for the opening of the McGill University Medical Centre (MUHC), Société de transport de Montréal (STM) will undertake construction work at Vendôme métro station in October to improve its passenger capacity and flow in order to meet an increase in ridership expected to reach 38 percent by 2016. Some 5.6 million transit users passed through this station in 2013, roughly 19,000 per weekday.
During the public meeting held Sept. 3, STM’s board of directors awarded a $1.296 million contract to Rainmaker Construction Inc. to oversee the upgrades in Vendôme station’s entryway.
‘The work being undertaken at Vendôme station will ensure the safe flow of transit users and, in the short term, meet the greater mobility and fluidity requirements expected when the MUHC opens its doors,’ said STM Board Chairman, Philippe Schnobb, adding that ‘As the station only has one entrance building, it could not handle the increased volume of people without some transition measures.’
The upgrades consist mainly in demolishing the existing staircases to build new ones and repositioning existing turnstiles. Work will cover five areas inside the station and will be staggered from October to June 2015, with the station staying open during that time. Costing $3.46 million, the project is entirely funded by the ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ).
Only one bus stop moved
As a consequence of the work about to begin, a single bus stop next to Vendôme station had to be moved, for the 102 – Somerled bus, and was relocated only a few yards away.
Agreement about an accessible second entrance
The project’s various stakeholders (MUHC, AMT, STM and the city of Montréal) all agree that a second entrance is the better solution to meet the needs regarding mobility in the medium term and make the station universally accessible. Indeed, the STM should soon receive authorization from the MTQ to make preparations for construction to begin.