This just in, the controversial plan to close down the tunnel under Mount Royal has been delayed until March 30, 2020. The tunnel, which links Montreal’s northern suburbs to downtown Central Station, was slated to close for two years, starting January 6, 2020.
The announcement, made Tuesday by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), was accompanied by a price tag increase of $230 million. The total cost of the REM light rail project is now $6.5 billion.
In recent months, citizens, businesses and various municipalities had called on the CDPQ to delay the tunnel’s closure due to insufficient traffic attenuation measures. When the tunnel closes, trains linking downtown Montreal to Mascouche and Deux-Montagnes will be unable to reach their destinations, forcing thousands of users to change their daily commutes. These changes will, in some cases, force them to spend many additional hours each week in public transit, in more cramped and crowded conditions.
Despite the change, when the tunnel does close, it will still need to remain so for at least two years. However, this change means that the closure will at least not happen during the winter of 2020.