You can finally walk from the metro station to the new superhospital without going on the street.
The tunnel from the Vendome metro/train station to the MUHC superhospital at the Glen site was officially opened Thursday morning by a bevy of politicians.
Robert Poeti, the provincial minister for Montreal and transport minister, led the ribbon cutting ceremony. He was joined by Kathleen Weil, the MNA for NDG, Cote des Neiges/Notre Dame de Grace borough mayor Russell Copeman, MUHC CEO Normand Rinfret, and others.
The 34-metre long tunnel is opening two months after the first patients began using the hospital and has been harshly criticized because it is not wheelchair accessible, only goes to the MUHC's parking lot, and at $5 million is costing more than three times the originally-projected cost.
There is an elevator at the hospital end of the tunnel, but the only way to access the tunnel from the train platform or from the metro station is via the stairs.
There is a door that leads from the new tunnel to a garage underneath the hospital grounds.
The garage has several elevators that go into the hospital, but the door can only be opened from the garage side, meaning it can’t be accessed from inside the tunnel.
Poeti was asked why the public couldn’t enter the garage from the tunnel to have direct access the hospital.
"When we work on the project to try to find the best 'B' solution, temporary, this is what you have here today," he said. "Using a garage as a way of everyone who has to pass by there, it's not secure. It was not made for that."
Those who cannot use stairs will continue to have to go around at street level via Decarie Blvd. Alternatively those with mobility issues are being encouraged to take a bus from Lionel Groulx metro station, which has wheelchair access.
A plan for a second, fully-accessible tunnel or elevated walkway between the public transit hub and the hospital has been discussed since 2008 but still has no specific timeline for completion.
