SameGuy

Honnêtement, ç’a l’air un peu à l’international sur le façade nord, même peut-être un homage au Tour CIBC à quelques blocs vers l’ouest.

That’s where all the GFT buildings come from? 😉

I saw an empty flatbed pulling into the area between the Coliseum and Anse (“l’emprise A440”); maybe they’re getting ready to move all the forms and rebar skeletons to Roxboro. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I saw the pile-drivers going at it at the old station site — but I didn’t check the end near 11th (Commercial) Avenue.

This is so sound. Bravo!

It need a hoebans

Thanks for this input, Reece!

I’d like to read the fine print on last week's announcement by the feds.

They even look the same

But look at the scope of it and it’s easy to see that it’s not just a simple light rail stop costing $600 million. Remember, the “$2.5 Billion” project is on hold; the work shown here is for the integrated REM station and ground transportation centre. Seeing as the REM station and associated facilities were already going to be the main focus of the first phase of the overall redevelopment until 2024, the progress of this phase is on track and future phases can be put to tender later on without a huge impact on the overall timeline. It’s a fricking huge project.

In other words, the city (and by extension, the province) should value its assets that are essentially “given” to Infra, and get fair compensation in return. As it stands, the province has given the keys to the city to Infra, and then agreed to pay many more billions in guaranteed per-passenger-kilometre charges.

No we don’t differ there, either. But CDPQinfra isn’t a “transit authority.” 😉 If the STM decided to emulate MTR in Hong Kong or MRT in Taiwan or in Singapore, and monetize their properties, I’d be 100% in favour. Same as I’d be in favour of CP building over their easements on the Westmount sub or Cominar selling their CN air rights to someone ready to build over Centrale. Heck, I’m also eager for the CN viaduct to be hollowed out and developed and commercialized! If CDPQi collaborates with their sibling IC, or with CF or anybody else to monetize existing properties adjacent to REM, I’m ok with it, and with Infra profiting in the process. I get that. What I’m not in love with is the idea of CDPQInfra being granted easements on highly valuable public assets today, in the 21st century, in order to develop transit out to sparsely populated areas with the primary intent of developing on that empty land and profiting from this corrupt speculation. If they want to foot the entire bill to acquire the lands and pay in full to build the line, great. But offering to only pay half, and demanding the rest from the public as a form of ransom — the “all or nothing” part of the equation? Yeah I’m not ok with that.

I’m nearly certain that the majority who have an opinion on the matter are hoping for this, with the unanswered question remaining whether the Québec government is willing to pay the difference. Repeating myself, I’m all for rapid transit. If they find gold and diamonds under the fields between Brossard and Chambly, I’d spend a good chunk of that new-found wealth on transit and clean-energy projects! I’m also in the camp that is willing to make concessions in order to get something sooner (Aéroport/West Island) rather than “some day” (a real Train de l’ouest métro), but there are definitely limits to it (West Island compromises vs the elevated “downtown section” of REM-B, or an East End metro vs extensions out to Chambly/Chateauguay/Mirabel). So to concur with your summary, I hope they can prioritize their investments to focus on somewhere near where they are needed before somewhere they would be significantly less effective. At the same time, I also hope that our governments don’t lose sight of the fact that mass transit is a social service, and must be maintained, improved and expanded as needs arise, with no profit motive in mind. This particular government just happens to be ready to subsidize shovel-ready mega projects, but isn’t catalyzing work on the existing systems (Orange northwest extension, platform screen doors, improving suburban trains, etc). Every current project already underway began during the previous mandate(s), and they haven’t announced any new investments in our systems — pre-study-studies notwithstanding. Let’s hope we get the best of both worlds. Our opinions aren’t as far apart as you imagine.

Waiting for Centra’s 1000…

🙂 Which is exactly what I’ve been saying to the fully-anti-REM people since we started to learn more and more of the REM-A decisions and priorities. I recognized all the shortcomings and fully expect we will keep finding more as time goes on, but if we would rather wait for the government alone to build a system serving the airport and western half of the metropolis, we’d be waiting a long, LONG time. Like… forever.

AMT (and by extension, RTM) in fact owned the DM line and sold it to CDPQ. Yes, I over-simplified my elaboration. My main point is that we are jumping in to take anything being offered instead of doing things properly and with all players acting in concert to build the best system. We are essentially not marrying Mr. Right, but settling for Mr. Right-Now.

And one more time for the people in the cheap seats: $10 billion would purchase dedicated rights-of-way for every exo line, electrify and double or triple track the network, fully grade-separate every line at every incursion point, purchase a new EMU fleet, and rebuild every station in the exo system up to modern, accessible standards. That would serve the entire region, not just Destination Chantal Rouleau.

Agree 100%, but first things first: is REM-B a solution looking for a problem? Is the downtown leg of either the Green or Orange so overwhelmed (pre-COVID) that we need to spend $10B to remedy the situation on that 2-3 km stretch? If that’s the line's primary intent, then $10B would be better spent helping the eastern leg of the Orange. So I go back to my opinion: if the intent is to serve 27 million square feet of empty land, and the ultimate capacity will max out at just 12,000 pphd, we shouldn’t be building a light metro with heavy infrastructure at all. A grade-separated LRT to some connection point east of the CBD would serve adequately, and eff the “automation.” Nobody can present a cogent argument as to HOW the “lower operating costs” of a driverless $10 Billion light metro that saves a scant few minutes getting through downtown make up for the savings of building a perhaps $2 Billion grade-separated, mostly-surface LRT to a point just east of downtown. We still don’t even know how many people will need to get from PAT or Marie-Victorin directly to Robert-Bourassa and René-Lévesque (instead of elsewhere in Ville Marie), so at what aesthetic, technical or financial cost are we willing to accommodate this unknown number of commuters?

Visiting your folks? Have a look at the Ste-Marie westbound overpass. The city contract is happening for the drainage works, in advance of the eventual rebuild of the bridge with protected pedestrian and bike lanes. I think they want that section completed before the launching gantry passes in the next couple of months.

WAYYYY too many pages spent on this tangent. Can we talk about an ugly-beautiful-interesting-dull new building again?

Le Centre Sheraton était gris pâle chaude.

A BUILDING WITH GRITTY CHARM

Ce n’est visible nulle part dans les plans et esquisses à c’t’heure.

Encore une autre déception. I will give it benefit of the doubt until it’s completed. But like @p_xavier said, it’s ridiculous that there’s no planned direct connection to Place Bonaventure and the Bonaventure Metro.

Excellent. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

The Blue extension won’t happen without upgrading the entire line to CBTC. The upgrade has to be functional before the extension opens in five-six-seven years. But yeah, platform doors project is postponed indefinitely.