A $195-million rapid-transit bus system to serve the Outaouais region rolled forward yesterday with the selection of a Quebec construction company to handle the project’s $3.4-million management contract.
Pomerleau Inc. will be managing the Societe de Transport de l’Outaouais’s Rapibus project, said STO chairwoman Louise Poirier, after members of a selection committee unanimously chose the firm that was also responsible for the Lac-Leamy hotel complex, expansions at the airports in Ottawa and Montreal, two Laval subway stations and the recent expansion of the STO garage, among other projects.
“Pomerleau has lots of experience in the field,” said Poirier.
A rapid-transit system with a dedicated route, the Rapibus project will run along an existing railway in a two-way, 17-kilometre corridor reserved exclusively for buses. It has three starting points at Lorrain Street in the east, Freeman Road in the north and Alexandre-Tache in the south.
Parking facilities with 1,700 spaces and a bicycle path will be added along the corridor.
Last year, more than 18 million people used the STO and Poirier said people are in need of faster service with dedicated bus lanes.
“We’ve decided it’s the way to provide service.”
