Preparatory work will soon be launched at the Le Boulevard shopping center, given the start of work on the extension of the blue line. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) promises that the establishment will remain open during the excavation of the future station, which will begin in a few months.
Several “developments” must indeed be carried out shortly around the shopping center, which the STM owns, including the “redevelopment of access from Pie-IX Boulevard to take into account the configuration of the construction sites”.
In a statement Wednesday, the company says its goal is to “consolidate the various commercial spaces in the eastern portion of the building, while the western portion will become a construction zone.” Many mitigation measures will soon be unveiled to the public, but we already know that a detour will have to be put in place to allow the service of the Pie-IX SRB to be maintained.
“Everything will be put in place to promote easy access to the shopping center and limit the impact on mobility in the sector,” promises the STM, which first says it wants to maintain “the commercial offer and a pleasant shopping experience until the delivery of the project, which is still scheduled for 2029.
From this spring and until the summer, the repair of the shopping center parking lot, which includes the redevelopment of certain accesses and signs, will be started. In the fall, we plan to start the renovation of the secondary entrances (A and B) of the building, which will take place until the winter of 2024. During the work, these entrances will become the main entrances.
Then, in early 2024, STM teams will proceed with the “partial deconstruction of the shopping center area included in the former RD Furniture store, currently occupied by Urban Planet, the former SAQ, the former location Jean Coutu, and the five locations south of Jean Coutu”.
Once the tunnel boring machine has left the Pie-IX sector, the station site will be able to “settle where the launch shaft was”, which will become the future main entrance. At all times, an emergency exit will be provided “to transport the cuttings and segments” to the surface.
Recall that last February, the STM announced, under a partnership with Ivanhoé Cambridge, that a station will indeed be located at the Galeries d’Anjou. The two companies then explained that they had agreed “on taking possession of the lots for March 2024”, an additional period which favors “the relocation of the targeted businesses while being reconcilable with the project schedule”.
