Berri-UQAM

A work area is still active inside and outside the building (in Parc Émilie-Gamelin). The doors on the east side of the entrance building remain blocked.

Worksite partitions are in place to allow us to complete the interior work.

The Métro station remains open at all times. Some work elements might be visible while you get around:

• Worksite partitions on various levels of the station
• Temporary closure of some staircases
• Scaffolding above the Yellow line platforms and some staircases

A dewatering station is a pumping facility. As the métro is an underground system and must coexist with the water table, and given climate change that increases the risk of heavy rainfall, we need to add pumping facilities. They are used to remove water that seeps into the tunnel by pumping it into the city sewer system.

Due to the confined environment of the Yellow line, operations will be necessary outside of the current volume of the station.

In addition, the Yellow line platforms are located 28 metres below street level and installing elevators at that depth is a major technical challenge.

Since the Green and Yellow lines were not built directly on top of each other in the volume of the station, extending the newly installed Green line elevators down to the Yellow line was not possible.

The Berri-UQAM station will eventually have seven elevators allowing all customers to access its three métro lines.

The decision to work with the City of Montreal on an integrated project allows us to optimize the schedule by significantly reducing the duration of individual projects. In the long term, there will be fewer impacts on the area’s residents and customers. It also allows for economies of scale, greatly reducing the cost of construction and thus enabling the sound management of public funds.

In terms of size, the station is the equivalent of five football fields, and it has eight levels. Berri-UQAM Station is the largest in the network and also the busiest. Combining asset maintenance by upgrading the infrastructure with a reduced impact on services and on passengers was a challenge. Each job and each implementation strategy is planned in a way that minimizes the impact on the métro’s customers and operations. What’s more, we are keeping the station open and operational for customers while the work is being done, which is an additional challenge. We have had to organize equipment and materials in tight spaces within the station and in a unique underground environment.

The Berri-UQAM Station membrane has reached the end of its service life. This job falls within the category of asset maintenance.

Underground, the station is as wide as De Maisonneuve Boulevard West, between the Saint-Denis entrance building and the Place Dupuis entrance building. Under Berri Street, it begins 40 metres north of De Maisonneuve Boulevard and extends to Sainte-Catherine Street.

The scope and complexity of the work make it impossible to keep a traffic lane open during certain stages of the work. Major work like this requires lots of space for moving machinery around. We will also have to deal with massive conduits (electrical power and others), which are particularly dense and complex and so, once again, we will need a lot of space to work around them.

We have been asked to replace the utilities located between the street and the station roof and in the excavation area. This includes water pipes, sewers and electrical duct banks. This means that this entire section of the street will be fully refurbished.

There are water pipes in the excavation area, so we may install a temporary water network. The outages would be short and only happen during the changeover. If this is the case, we will notify affected residents via the usual means of communication. If all goes according to plan, electrical networks should remain functional at all times.

The project team is currently in contact with various organizations and the borough to prepare an action plan. Note that Place Émile-Gamelin will not be completely closed. The public will still have access during the construction phase.

We will also meet with organizers to minimize the impact on events that normally take place there.

We considered the volume of cyclists who usually pass through Berri. We quickly realized we needed a section that could accommodate demand, and the temporary track was a viable and more natural way to ensure continuity with the rest of the bike network. The link is to the north with the Cherrier and Parc Lafontaine paths. To the south, via the bicycle path on René-Lévesque, cyclists can detour to Berri and easily connect to the express bike lane on Viger.

We will be meeting with the owners of businesses on Rue Atateken to discuss the impacts of the construction site and the detours in particular, and to identify ways to limit nuisances.

• 31,269 square metres: surface area of the station, equivalent to five football fields
• 600+ STM employees working inside the station
• 28 escalators
• 5 public elevators in operation, and 1 private
• 625 steps (more than double the number of Saint-Joseph’s Oratory)
• 6 levels with 2 others housing mechanical rooms
• 6 platforms plus connecting tracks
• 5 entrance buildings
• 28 metres deep, from the Yellow line platform to an exit (only Charlevoix station is deeper)
• 13 shops inside the station

The Berri-UQAM interior renovation was a large-scale project composed of many complex operations, all with the goal of providing an enhanced customer experience. The station is now more user-friendly and welcoming than ever.

This was one of our network’s largest worksites in the last decade, and it was quite a challenge to keep the station open while completing such major work. Each operation and each implementation strategy was planned so as to minimize the impact on customers and on métro operations. Completing this project required us to manage equipment and materials in the station’s limited space and in a particular environment.

• Summer 2010 to fall 2011: we removed the wall finishes in most of the station's public areas and replaced them with temporary coverings until the permanent finishes could be installed.
• Winter 2012 to summer 2012: we completed the removal of wall finishes and dismantled the decorative red columns that no longer met today's standards.
• Early 2013: we refurbished the station's main electrical conduits, which led to the temporary shutdown of several escalators.
• 2013: we renovated the Berri and Place Dupuis entrance buildings, replacing the structural slab, ceilings, lighting fixtures, floor coverings and granite stairs.
• From fall 2013 to fall 2014: we replaced part of the waterproofing membrane under Berri Street. This work was essential to protect the inside of the station
• 2015: we completed the refurbishment of the Yellow line area of the station, with refurbished wall finishes and floor coverings and improved lighting. We also worked on the tunnel ceiling and rebuilt the walkway over the tracks.
• 2016: we refurbished the Saint-Denis entrance building, reconfigured a few corridors to the Orange and Green line platforms and refurbished the staircase between these two levels.
• 2015 to 2017: we focused the station’s transformation on the Green and Orange lines. These areas of the station are now brighter, more welcoming and more user-friendly.
• From 2017 to 2021: we completed the Green and Orange line renovations. The mezzanine was completely renovated and we modernized the shop fronts, all the wall coverings, and the lighting, among other things.The spaces between the mezzanine and the Green and Orange lines are now brighter, and the nearby turnstile area has been rearranged for better customer flow.Two elevators now connect the Orange line to the Green line.
• 2023: construction of a new ventilation shaft in Berri entrance (1500, Berri Street). Installation of two new cold-water towers in Sainte-Catherine entrance.
• 2022-2024 : refection of the waterproof membrane located below De Maisonneuve Boulevard, between Berri and Sanguinet Streets.