Nobody wants to pay for $80 million tunnel to superhospital

CTV Montreal: No money for much-needed MUHC tunnel The upcoming superhospital will not have tunnel access, much to the chagrin of those who met to discuss the problem Tuesday.

The MUHC superhospital is almost complete and hospitals will soon begin training at the site but getting there on foot or public transit is proving to be complicated, and community groups are getting upset.

Shannon Franssen is among those wondering why the project will not include a tunnel accessible from the Vendome metro and train stations.

The original plan on the books a decade ago included a tunnel to link the transit hub to the hospital complex, but it has not come to fruition.

"It was always the MUHC's plan to have a second entrance built, so it's really unfathomable that even after all this time, after ten whole years of planning that the government still hasn't decided to finance the second entrance," said Franssen.

Instead people will have to rely on a pedestrian overpass that crosses the tracks, while those who cannot handle stairs will have to a nearly 1 km detour via Decarie Blvd. to enter the hospital site.

"It's just such a shame because the solution is there, the solution exists, the plans are made," said Franssen.

Franssen's group estimates it would cost up to $80 million to build a tunnel from the metro station to the superhospital, a cost per-metre which is equivalent to the tunnelling estimates given for the extension to the Blue line of the Montreal metro system.

However despite appeals from the community, from the mayor of the Cote des Neiges-Notre Dame de Grace borough, and from many other groups, the provincial government is not willing to pay for a tunnel.

It's estimated that 8,000 to 10,000 people heading to the hospital every day would go to the Vendome station.