It's finally coming!
Montreal's plan to extend the STM's Blue Line is probably one of the worst-kept secrets in the city's administration for the last 30+ years.
Here's the thing, while Montreal's metro system is one of the best in the country, so many boroughs in the city are not serviced properly, or even at all.
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The chatter surrounding the STM Blue Line expansion has been running high for a long, long time. With Valerie Plante coming into power in Montreal, all the talk had been placed on the all-new Pink Line, but many locals and city officials complained about the lack of focus put on the proposed Blue Line metro - calling it a bigger priority.
When the 2018 federal budget was unveiled, there was money set for service and work to the Metro system, but the Blue Line in specific was nowhere to be found.
The provincial government, however, did set aside $365M to help plan the blue line's expansion
Today, the city announced an announcement - like so many people (frustratingly) like to do these days.
But there is some good news here! The announcement IS coming and coming soon.
Quebec Transport Minister André Fortin said that the extension will be the next "major announcement" coming out of the provincial government, and that announcement is expected to come, officially, on Monday, April 9th.
The Blue Line expansion is focused on bringing 5 new stations and an extra 5.8 km of metro service through the City's north-east areas. Here's where they will be.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected at Monday's "official announcement", and backing from the federal government is expected to be announced as well.
The details on how both governments plan to pay for the $3.9B is still being worked out, but it is said that the Quebec provincial government is covering about 60% of the cost.
I will update this story come Monday's announcements, but for now - take comfort in knowing that the blue line expansion, 30 years in the making, will indeed move forward.
