Youville track maintenance workshop

Youville track maintenance workshop expansion

Project summary

As part of our métro infrastructure maintenance program, we are carrying out an expansion project at the Youville track maintenance workshop. The expansion will serve to increase the shop’s operational efficiency and capacity to meet the growing demand of construction work in the métro and to enhance residents’ quality of life by reducing disturbances due to métro equipment operations.


Duration of the work: july 2022 to winter 2025

Description of the work:

  • Construction of a two-storey annex attached to the existing building to house work vehicles for the métro network
  • Creation of a green roof for the new building and refurbishment of the existing building’s roof
  • Partial refurbishment of exterior finishes
  • Installation of a railway turntable and two switches
  • Construction of a greened noise barrier on one section of the fence

Métro impacts: no

Bus impacts: bus stop of line 146 East (50590) is relocated on the other side of the street.

Texte important

Virtual information session

A public virtual information session was held on April 4, 2022. You can watch the recording of the webcast (in French only), view the presentation given that evening, and see a list of the questions asked and the answers provided during the session.

Impact on local residents

Texte important

Worksite updates

Reopening of Henri-Julien Street

Henri-Julien Street will reopen to traffic Southbound as of December 18, 2023.

  • Parking will be back on the west side of the street, between Legendre and Émile-Journault.
  • The bike path will remain where it is for the winter.
  • The sidewalk on the west side of the street will remain closed, as it will be within the worksite area.

Follow all posted signage for parking and traffic.

Map around the worksite

Worksite update

The building envelope will be completed over the winter. Work will then continue inside, reducing noise levels for residents in the area.

In the spring, we will resume exterior work and carry out landscaping. We will keep you updated through this newsletter.

Please note that weekend work may takes place only when necessary, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., in accordance with the municipal by-law in effect.

We expand the existing Youville track maintenance workshop building on Henri-Julien Avenue. Work will be conducted on the north side of the building, between Legendre Street and Laflamme Avenue. The expansion is needed to improve the operations of the entire métro network. We will integrate some of these operations into the building to reduce disturbances for residents.

This type of construction project requires excavation, erecting new steel structures and roofing. It will be a major project and will cause some noise, vibrations and dust.

To reduce the negative impact on residents, we will implement mitigation measures specific to the worksite and to each stage of the work.

Schedule

The work will take place from Monday to Friday starting at 7 a.m., in accordance with municipal by-laws. Some work may be done on weekends.

Traffic and parking

As of March 19, 2023, Henri-Julien will become a one-way street heading south between Legendre and Émile-Journault. Local northbound traffic will be redirected to Saint-Denis Street. The parking spaces on the east side of Henri-Julien Street will be moved over slightly to accommodate the relocation of the bike path, but they will remain accessible.

Sidewalks and street parking alongside the worksite on Henri-Julien and Legendre will be unavailable during the project.

Since January, some parking spaces are blocked off during the day on the north side of Legendre at the corner of Henri-Julien. The parking ban is in effect from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to allow buses and trucks to drive safely on Legendre.

There will also be a change to the pavement marking in this location. The centre line will be removed to allow vehicles to take up the space needed for their maneuvers.

Please note that the parking ban will not be in effect over the end-of-year holidays.

 

Bus service

The bus stop line 146 East (50590) is relocated across the street to Legendre, on the west corner of Henri-Julien Street.

Maps around the worksite.

Cyclists

To ensure the safety of cyclists, the bike path on the west side of Henri-Julien will be moved to the east side of the street. Cyclists will still be able to travel both northbound and southbound on this two-way bike path.

Noise

To reduce the noise produced by the worksite, acoustically insulated noise walls will be built when the work starts. We will conduct rigorous noise-level and vibration monitoring and take all appropriate corrective action.

Dust

There will be thorough monitoring to ensure that all dust-control practices are followed throughout the project. Specific measures will be implemented for each phase of the work, in compliance with all applicable regulations.

Trucks

We have designed a traffic plan to minimize the presence of trucks on local streets. Heavy vehicles will have to enter the worksite via Legendre only. Vehicles that cannot be parked inside the work area will be redirected to a parking area reserved for site personnel near Saint-Laurent Boulevard. There will be a flagger present during work hours to secure the worksite.

Deliveries

Truck deliveries: To reduce the impact on local residents, delivery times will be between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., on weekdays only.

 

Good neighbour committee

The committee will allow residents living near the site to meet periodically with the people in charge of the project to receive up-to-date information and discuss their concerns during the work.

If you would like to join this committee, send an email to parlons-en@stm.info, and we will contact you.

Learn more about the project

Today, the Youville track maintenance workshop make up the oldest transportation maintenance and overhaul facility in Quebec. They are where we conduct métro train maintenance. The workshops are divided into sub-shops and serve both old and new train models (MR-73 and AZUR). The Youville track maintenance shop is where we store and redeploy vehicles used for maintenance and refuelling on worksites throughout the métro network.

The expansion project will allow us to increase the operational capacity at the Youville track maintenance workshop, optimize the maintenance of our network and reduce noise disturbances in the surrounding area.

The expansion will serve the following purposes:

  • Increase the shop’s operational efficiency and capacity to meet the growing demand of construction work in the métro, benefitting the operations of the entire Montréal métro network.
  • Improve space management for marshalling, scheduling and handling maneuvers.
  • Better integrate the building into the neighbourhood with improved architecture and a greened noise barrier.
  • Enhance residents’ quality of life by reducing disturbances due to métro equipment operations.

Expanding this infrastructure is part of the STM’s strategy to reduce its asset maintenance deficit. Our métro network is aging and requires a lot of maintenance and renovation. Some of these tasks can only be carried out at night and within a very narrow timeframe. This constraint requires highly complex logistical planning.

The expansion will increase our overnight worksite production capacities and enable more flexible logistical planning. We will be able to meet the increasing demand of our major worksites, which are growing in size and number. These gains in versatility and performance will help us find a balance between regular network maintenance and service to external contractors.

The work will be completed in several phases:

1. Worksite preparation

  • Fencing off the worksite
  • Installing work equipment
  • Approximate timeframe: 1 month

2. Start of pile drilling and infrastructural work

  • This will require the use of a drilling rig.
  • Approximate timeframe: 6 months

3. Steel structure mounting

  • This will require the use of an on-site crane.
  • Approximate timeframe: 6 months

4. Start of interior work and exterior wall construction

  • Approximate timeframe: 6 months

5. Interior work

  • Approximate timeframe: 12 months

Once the project is complete, operations will go on inside the new building, so the activities in that section of the workshop will be less noisy. The building design has been analyzed and approved by an acoustics specialist.

In September 1910, the Montreal Park and Island Railway Company began construction of these workshops, originally for streetcar repairs. At the time, the location was in the middle of the countryside.

The year 1946 marked the start of a period of expansion at the Youville workshops. With buses becoming more and more prominent in the field of public transportation, Montreal Tramways began construction of two new buildings at the site (the Villeray garage and Complexe Crémazie).

In 1951, the transit network was transferred to the public sector, and the Commission de transport de Montréal (CTM) was born. The CTM replaced streetcars with buses. This meant that new bus garages had to be built to house the hundreds of new vehicles.

In 1963, the Youville workshops received the additions of the major repairs and minor repairs shops, the fan, the track maintenance shop and the Legendre power station.

In 1972, a shelter was added to the Youville track maintenance shop. This structure was needed to mount DC choppers on métro cars. DC choppers are electronic devices that gradually let in the motor’s supply current, and they are also what plays the three notes when the métro train starts.

The track maintenance shop was expanded again from 2004 to 2005. In the interim, a track was added connecting to the future fifth métro line—the Blue line—in 1980.

Stay informed

Stay informed of the project’s progress and other events by signing up for the electronic newsletter

The project in images


This work is made possible thanks to funding provided by the Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ).

Top of page