A gas leak that occurred on Wednesday afternoon forced the interruption of electrical service for 50,000 people in eastern Montreal. The leak was plugged in the early evening by Énergir and electrical service was able to resume shortly thereafter.
"Excavation work, carried out by a third party, caused a break on an underground natural gas line belonging to Énergir," explains Énergir's Senior Media and Public Affairs Advisor, Elaine Arsenault. "The break is under control and does not pose a danger to public safety."
Around 7:00 p.m., Énergir crews were able to plug the gas leak, allowing electrical service to return.
The gas leak, which occurred during construction work on the extension of the Pie-IX SRB, caused a power outage in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district. The incident left over 50,000 homes without electricity.
The incident occurred on Pie-IX Boulevard between Hochelaga and Rouen Streets. The excavation was being carried out "by a third party who touched and broke the line," explains Énergir. The hole has since been plugged and traffic has returned to normal.
Emergency services reported the gas leak to Hydro-Québec, which then "cut off electricity in the area as a safety precaution," says the Crown corporation. As soon as emergency services "gave the go-ahead," power was restored.
The homes that were without power were located in a quadrilateral formed by Rosemont Boulevard, Notre-Dame Street, De Lorimier Avenue, and De Cadillac Street.
The power outage, which began around 4:00 p.m., lasted for several hours, disrupting traffic during rush hour. Traffic lights were out of service, particularly on Notre-Dame Street, and emergency services had to handle traffic direction.
Hydro-Québec has indicated that it cut off electricity in the area at the request of emergency services, shortly before 4:00 p.m.
No one was injured.
The outage affected a large part of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district, as well as sections of Plateau–Mont-Royal and Rosemont–La Petite Patrie. Around 5:45 p.m., the number of homes affected by the outage had decreased to about 40,000, then to about 30,000 around 6:00 p.m.
Hydro-Québec said the outage area was so large because it was a major leak.
Before 6:00 p.m., electricity returned to some of the affected areas, including Maisonneuve Park.
In June 2023, the City of Montreal announced the extension of the Pie-IX SRB circuit to Notre-Dame. The bus route currently ends at the Pie-IX metro station, at the corner of Pierre-de-Coubertin Boulevard at the Olympic Stadium. It is one street lower, on Hochelaga, that the leak occurred on Wednesday.
The City of Montreal has chosen to invest $136.8 million to extend the SRB. The total cost of the project, awarded to Pomerleau, is $167 million, including contingencies and impacts, as shown in the documentation from the Infrastructure Services.
The Pie-IX SRB extension project has been a long time coming. The gradual commissioning of the service, inaugurated in November 2022, began last fall. At the time, it was said that the project to extend the axis to Notre-Dame was "not dead", but they refused to provide a timeline.
The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) actually had to go back to a call for tenders to bring the extension project to life, because the costs were too high.
The cost overrun was finally accepted. The initial budget for the extension was $78 million. This investment by the City of Montreal remains, but the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) will cover the difference, according to La Presse. The total budget for the new service will have climbed to around $650 million in the end.
The STM has promised that the journey will be 30% faster than before by bus and even by car, thanks to the dedicated lanes located in the center.
Ultimately, the Pie-IX SRB will connect Notre-Dame Street to the section between Saint-Martin Boulevard in Laval, with the exception of the Jean-Talon sector, which is expected to be completed in 2023.
