Three Montreal metro station entrances closed for safety reasons

A sign for the STM Metro in Montreal, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Montreal’s transit agency, the STM, is closing three entrances to metro stations for an indefinite period due to “safety reasons.”

The entrance to McGill station from de Maisonneuve Boulevard and the Belmont Street entrance to Square-Victoria-OACI station closed on Tuesday.

The north entrance to De Castelnau station has been closed since March 30.

“These are areas identified as trouble spots due to their daily use for undesirable behaviour,” STM spokesperson Laurence Houde-Roy told Noovo Info in an email.

The STM said it has seen issues including cleanliness problems, overcrowding, incivility, and drug use.

The transit agency had previously closed the Square Cabot entrance to the Atwater metro station for the winter, drawing some criticism from organizations that assist people experiencing homelessness.

“It’s a difficult decision to make,” said David Chapman, executive director of Resilience Montreal, an organization that supports the homeless population in the Cabot Square area. “It tends to be one of the places where there’s some protection from the elements. You know, that’s where it’s a little cooler in the summer, where it’s a it’s a little warmer in the winter.”

Resilience Day Shelter is across the street from the Cabot Square entrance of Atwater metro.

“When metro spaces, when more of them are closed, we see higher numbers at our homeless resource for sure,” he said, adding, “We keep repeating this year after year -- is resources in every neighbourhood where the basic needs of unhoused people can be met.”

These recent closures are intended “to concentrate cleaning and security resources on smaller areas in order to improve operations.”

“Since reducing the number of spaces proved effective last winter, we believe it is appropriate to reinstate the measure this year,” the organization stated in an email sent to Noovo Info, adding that the teams responsible for station maintenance and operations have been reorganized following complaints from users and a recent report from workers’ health and safety board, CNESST.

- With files from Noovo Info