Newly refurbished bus terminus OPENS at lionel-groulx station

November 14, 2013 – Société de transport de Montréal (STM) announces the opening of the refurbished bus terminus installations surrounding Lionel-Groulx métro station. This station is a critical junction in the métro system, providing a transfer point between the Green and Orange lines, thus further promoting the use of public transit.

A safer, more welcoming and accessible bus terminus
The terminus surroundings feature a number of improvements, including overhead awnings, specially designed for the terminus, that serve as passenger waiting areas in the bus boarding zone along Greene Avenue and provide greater comfort for transit users. Lighting has also been enhanced to make the paths and overall area safer for pedestrians and cyclists. Working closely with the disabled community, specific markings were added for the benefit of persons with reduced mobility, such as textured tiles and signalled crossings. The landscaping of the terminus grounds, with the replanting of trees and new shrubs, the installation of living fences, as well as street furniture, such as benches and trash cans, adds a final touch.   

Furthermore, the redesigned layout improves the flow of buses along the streets and intersections near Lionel-Groulx station and promotes a modal transfer to public transit, thus reducing traffic congestion. Improving the terminus’ facilities will make it safer, more welcoming and user-friendly, while increasing its operational efficiency. Also, a better organization of the space surrounding the station will benefit the 12 bus lines that converge on it, namely the  71 – Du Centre, 78 – Laurendeau, 108 – Bannantyne, 191 – Broadway / Provost, 211 – Bord-du-Lac, 405 – Express Bord-du-Lac, 411 – Métrobus Lionel-Groulx, 425 – Express Anse-à-l’Orme, 485 – Express Antoine-Faucon,  491 – Métrobus Lachine, 496 - Métrobus Victoria, and 747 – Express bus.

“Refurbishing the Lionel-Groulx bus terminus represents a $3.3 million investment, funded entirely by Transport Québec, as part of the mitigation measures enacted for Turcot. Such an undertaken illustrates how this government is determined to invest in maintaining public transport infrastructure, while improving the offer of service,” declared Québec Transport Minister, Sylvain Gaudreault. 

“For Montréal to have a healthy economy, we must ensure the provision of complementary transportation services to meet the needs of citizens in the West Island so they may also enjoy greater mobility. To that end, the redesigned terminus is a perfect example of the joint efforts made by the Québec government, the City of Montréal, the STM and the Sud-Ouest Borough to deliver increased public transit services,”  added Denis Coderrre, mayor of Montréal.

“We made sure the redesigned Lionel-Groulx bus terminus became an integral part of the neighbourhood as much as possible, by synchronizing the traffic lights on Atwater St. and those at the intersection of Greene Avenue and Saint-Jacques St. Also, the installation of green fences will help protect the community garden, La Légumière Rose-de-Lima, and preserve the quality of life of neighbourhood residents,” pointed out Benoît Dorais, mayor of the Sud-Ouest borough.

“The Lionel-Groulx terminus is a major gateway to the downtown core for people from the West Island, and it will continue to play a key role over the coming years. In fact, three of the four new bus lines created as part of the Turcot Interchange refurbishing project have converged at this station since the spring of 2012. In their first year of service, the 405, 425, 475 and 485 lines experienced ridership growth of close to 45%. More specifically, this growth translated into an increase of some 1 600 trips on average per weekday (3 700 trips in the spring of 2012 compared with 5 300 trips in the spring of 2013),” declared Mr. Labrecque.

Three reserved lanes in service
The objective of the reserved lanes, which is to ensure that buses are on time, has been achieved overall for the various lines covering various routes. Since 2011, three reserved lanes have been set up heading downtown to the Lionel-Groulx terminus. Totalling 13.6 km, the reserved lanes implemented on Autoroute 20 (between 32nd and 55th Avenues), as well as on Notre-Dame (eastbound, between Saint-Pierre and Monk) and on Saint-Patrick (westbound between Dollard and Monk, and eastbound between Monk and Atwater) provide an effective alternative as they can both serve as a bypass route in the event of traffic congestion and allow for predictable travel times, as is the case for lines 405, 425 and 485.

Two commuter (Park-and-Ride) parking lots
In addition to the commuter parking lot located at the Dollard-des-Ormeaux Civic Centre, served by line 475 travelling to Côte-Vertu station, a second commuter parking lot is also available in the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough. Located at the intersection of Pierrefonds and Château-Pierrefonds Boulevards, this lot provides some 60 spots for clients wishing to take lines 470 or 485 that run to Côte-Vertu and Lionel-Groulx métro stations respectively.

A controlled-access bike shelter
Finally, since the beginning of October, Lionel-Groulx station has provided controlled-access bike parking – a first in Montréal – enabling cyclists to park their bikes in a sheltered area. Access to the shelter is controlled by an OPUS card featuring a special fare. Clients who indicated an interest during a recruitment period last summer will test the shelter, consisting of 16 racks on two levels for a total capacity of 32 bikes, for a one-year period. The post-testing subscription details will be revealed following completion of the testing phase.

Some fifty bike parking spaces are also available near the métro building, and there is a cycling path along Lionel-Groulx Street. This brings the number of bike parking spots near Montréal métro stations to close to 2 800. This number will increase over the coming years through the collaboration of the Ville de Montréal boroughs.

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For information:

Isabelle A. Tremblay 
Direction principale – Affaires publiques
514 280-4940
Isabelle.tremblay@stm.info

Ministère des Transports du Québec
Relations avec les médias
514 873-5600 or 1 866 341-5724

Louis-Pascal Cyr
Cabinet du maire
514 207-5525
louis-pascal.cyr@ville.montreal.qc.ca

Marie Otis
Directrice de cabinet de l’arrondissement Sud-Ouest
Cell 514 984-7333