Underground city of Montreal
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
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
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
-
Place Bonaventure
- Headquarters of the Société de transport de Montréal
- (Access to Metro Square-Victoria-OACI via ICAO building)
-
Place Ville-Marie
- (Access to Metro McGill via Center Eaton)
-
Gare Windsor
- (Access to Metro Lucien-L'Allier via Center Bell)
- 1250 René-Lévesque
- Place du Canada
-
Gare Centrale ( Via Rail , AMT and Amtrak )
- Les Halles de la Gare
- Canadian National Railway headquarters
- Hotel Reine Elizabeth
- Hotel Château Champlain
-
1000 de La Gauchetière
- Terminus Center-ville (bus station for suburban lines)
Metro Lucien-L'Allier
-
Center Bell
- (Access to Metro Bonaventure via Gare Windsor)
- Gare Lucien-L'Allier (station for local trains)
- Gare Windsor
Metro Square-Victoria-OACI
- Headquarters of the ICAO
- (Access to Metro Bonaventure via Place Bonaventure)
- Place de la Cité international
- Center CDP Capital
- W Hotel
- (Access to Metro Place-d'Armes via Palais des congrès)
-
Center de Commerce Mondial de Montréal
- Canada Steamship Lines
- Hotel Intercontinental
- Hotel St. James
-
Square Victoria
- Tour de la Bourse (Montreal Stock Exchange)
- Delta Center-Ville Hotel
- Tour de La Banque Nationale
- 700 de la Gauchetière
- 1080 Cote du Beaver Hall
Metro Place-d'Armes
-
Palais des congrès de Montréal
- (Access to Metro Square-Victoria-OACI via Place de la Cité internationale)
-
Complexe Guy-Favreau (Federal Government of Canada)
- (Access to Metro Place-des-Arts via Complexe Desjardins)
Metro Place-des-Arts
-
Complexes Desjardins
- Hyatt Regency Hotel
- (Access to Metro Place-d'Armes via Complexe Guy-Favreau)
-
Université du Québec à Montréal
- President Kennedy
- Sherbrooke
- Arts IV
- Place des Arts
- Édifice Hydro-Québec
Unconnected segments
Metro Berri-UQAM
-
Université du Québec à Montréal
- Judith Jasmine
- Athanase David
- Hubert-Aquin
- Grande Bibliothèque
- Gare d'autocars de Montréal (bus station for intercity lines)
- Place Dupuis
- Hôtel des Gouverneurs
Metro Guy-Concordia
-
Concordia University
- Guy Metro Annex
- Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Complex
- John Molson School of Business
- JW McConnell Library
- Place Alexis Nihon
- Westmount Square
- Dawson College
See also
The PATH (Toronto) forms a similar tunnel network .
literature
- Jacques Besner: Genèse de la ville intérieure de Montréal. (PDF, 833 KB) In: Observatoire de la ville intérieure. Institut d'urbanisme de l'Université de Montréal, accessed on September 24, 2011 (French).
- Pieter Sijpkes, David Brown: Montreal's Indoor City - 35 years of development. (PDF, 3.59 MB) In: Observatoire de la ville intérieure. Institut d'urbanisme de l'Université de Montréal, accessed on September 24, 2011 .
Web links
- Montreal Underground City Site dedicated to the underground city of Montreal
- Observatoire de la ville intérieure (historical and urban research on the underground city)
- Photos and list of interconnected buildings
Coordinates: 45 ° 30 ′ 10.8 " N , 73 ° 34 ′ 19.2" W.