Underground city of Montreal

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Underground city logo

The underground city of Montreal ( French Montréal souterrain or Ville intérieure , English Underground City , officially also called RÉSO ) is an extensive network of pedestrian tunnels and underground shopping arcades in downtown Montreal in Canada . The name RÉSO is derived from the phonetically similar French word réseau (network). The over 32 kilometer long tunnel system is considered to be the largest underground city in the world and extends over an area of ​​twelve square kilometers in the central district of Ville-Marie . In this way, among other things, ten subway stations, two bus stations, the two main train stations, hundreds of shops, restaurants and cinemas, hotels, three event halls, an ice hockey stadium, various office and residential buildings and two universities will be connected. Around 80% of all office and 35% of all retail space in the city center are connected to the underground city. In this way, pedestrians can move around the city center, protected from climatic influences, especially in the harsh winter.

history

Shopping arcade between McGill and Bonaventure underground stations

The idea of ​​the underground city goes back to the urban planner Vincent Ponte . The first part was created in 1962 in connection with the construction of the Place Ville-Marie skyscraper . This high-rise office building received an underground shopping center and a tunnel that served as a connection to the main train station Gare Centrale and the Hotel Reine Élizabeth . The construction of the Montreal Metro accelerated development. From 1966, tunnels connected the Bonaventure station with the Hotel Château Champlain , the office buildings Place du Canada and Place Bonaventure and the train stations Gare Centrale and Gare Windsor . This sub-network has since formed the heart of the underground city.

The Square-Victoria-OACI metro station has also been connected to the Tour de la Bourse , the seat of the Montreal Stock Exchange, since 1966 . In the same year three smaller tunnel networks were opened around the metro stations Berri-UQAM , Guy-Concordia and Atwater (partly in the area of ​​the municipality of Westmount ), which are still separated from the main part of the underground city. Another important sub-network of the underground city was available from 1974. It connects the Place-des-Arts and Place-d'Armes metro stations with the Complexe Desjardins skyscraper , the Complexe Guy-Favreau government building and the Palais de congrès de Montréal

The third expansion phase followed between 1984 and 1992. Three interconnected underground shopping centers were built around the Peel and McGill metro stations : Cours Mont-Royal, Place Montréal Trust and Promenades Cathédrale (the latter directly under the Anglican Christ Church Cathedral ). The McGill station had previously been connected to the department stores The Bay and Eaton's (now Complexe Les Ailes), the Center Eaton and two smaller office complexes.

Major projects such as 1000 de La Gauchetière (now the tallest building in Montreal), 1250 René-Lévesque and the Center de commerce mondial de Montréal ensured a significant expansion of the underground city in the 1990s. Although these buildings only have smaller shopping arcades, access to the underground city serves as a selling point for the office space. In addition, a new tunnel between the Eaton Center and Place Ville-Marie connected the two most important subnets. The construction of the Center Bell ice hockey stadium meant that the Lucien-L'Allier metro station was connected to the underground city, as was the new suburban train station Gare Lucien-L'Allier , which replaced Gare Windsor.

As part of the redesign of the Quartier international de Montréal between 2000 and 2003, it was possible to consolidate several segments in the center of the underground city with continuous pedestrian corridors. The construction of the ICAO headquarters resulted in the construction of a connection between the metro stations Place Bonaventure and Square-Victoria-OACI. The latter was connected to the Palais des congrès and the Place-d'Armes metro station via a new CDPQ pension insurance building and a tunnel under Place Jean-Paul Riopelle.

In 2004 the segments of the underground city received a common umbrella brand called RÉSO, an onomatopoeic description of the French word réseau (network). The square with the "O" and arrow is also the logo of the subway.

Central segment

Halles de la gare under the main train station Gare Centrale

Metro peel

  • Carrefour Industrial Alliance
    • Cinema Banque Scotia ( IMAX )
    • Simons
    • (Access to Metro McGill via Place Montréal Trust)
  • Royal & Sun Alliance
  • Tour La Maritime
  • Place Montreal Trust
  • Tour Scotia
  • Center Mont-Royal
  • Le 2000 peel
  • Roots Canada
  • Les Cours Mont-Royal

Metro McGill

  • Center Eaton / Tour McGill
    • (Access to Metro Bonaventure via Place Ville-Marie / Gare Centrale)
  • Place Montreal Trust
    • (Access to Metro Peel via Carrefour Industrielle Alliance)
  • Tour Industrielle-Vie
  • 1801 McGill College Avenue
  • Le Center 2020 University
  • Place London Life / Les Galeries 2001 University
  • McGill University (Building 688 Sherbrooke)
  • The Bay
  • Le Parkade (2021 Union)
  • Promenades Cathédrale / Tour KPMG
  • Complexe Les Ailes (formerly Eaton's)

Metro Bonaventure

Metro Lucien-L'Allier

Metro Square-Victoria-OACI

Metro Place-d'Armes

Metro Place-des-Arts

Unconnected segments

Metro Berri-UQAM

Metro Guy-Concordia

  • Concordia University
    • Guy Metro Annex
    • Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Complex
    • John Molson School of Business
    • JW McConnell Library

Metro Atwater (in Westmount )

  • Place Alexis Nihon
  • Westmount Square
  • Dawson College

See also

The PATH (Toronto) forms a similar tunnel network .

literature

Web links

Coordinates: 45 ° 30 ′ 10.8 "  N , 73 ° 34 ′ 19.2"  W.