Downtown, Old Port To Be Linked By New Bus Route

Photo: Bruno Adamo Many tourists (not to mention the residents) find the lack of direct transport links between Downtown and Old Montreal inconvenient. Sure, the métro is there, but because of the U-shaped configuration of its lines, a traveler who wants to go from centrally located Peel Street to no less central Old Montreal would have to travel a few stops west (or east) on the green line, switch to the orange line, then essentially come back to the geographic center of the city albeit 10-15 blocks south. Annoying.

Fortunately, the city is aware of that - in fact, many recent proposals for building a tramway line cited this very inconvenience as the major reason for building it. Well, the tramway, if it's ever built, is still years away, but something much more feasible is already coming, the Gazette reported: Old Montreal and Downtown Montreal are to be linked by a new bus route...

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The new bus route 515 which runs along along Rue Berri, then Rue de la Commune, Rue Peel and crosses Blvd René Lévesque, will begin operating on June 23. A reserve bus lane along Rue de la Commune will be demarkated to support the new bus service.

The Gazette learned from unnamed "sources" in the city administration that the latter sees the bus route as a "test run for a tramway line in the next five years".

It's worth noting that next week the administration of Mayor Gérald Tremblay will make public the final version of its 20-year, $8.1-billion transportation plan.