Quebec to finance $394M reserved bus lane to Laval

The Quebec government has announced it will fund the construction of a $394 million reserved bus lane that will connect Montreal and Laval on Pie-IX Boulevard.

The "bus rapid transit" route, known as theBRTproject, will span 11 kilometres along Pie-IX between Pierre-DeCoubertinAvenue in Montreal to Saint-Martin Boulevard in Laval.

In April, Montreal announced that it had reached an agreement with the regional transitauthority (ARTM)to work on plans to develop Pie-IX Boulevard to accommodate a reserved bus lane.

It was included in the provincial budget and unveiled in March,but the province did not specify how much money it plannedto contribute.

It's expected to be $364 million for infrastructure and $29.6 millionto acquire 28 buses.

Work to complete the bus lane will begin in September or October, Transport Minister Andr Fortin said on Friday.

The project, slated to be completed by 2022, will be part of the city's municipal infrastructure and redevelopment project.

The call for tenders will be launched on Monday.

Buses every minute

There will be 15 bus stations in Montreal and two in Laval. The Green and Blue Metro lines will intersect with the bus lane, as will the Mascouche suburban train line.

"In peak periods, in some places, there will be buses every minute on the Pie-IX axis," Fortin said.

It's estimated that 70,000 people will use the service.

Fortin also announced the refurbishment of the Pie-IX Bridge, which connects Montreal and Laval. It is expected to start within a year.

That project is expected to cost more than $100 million.