The underground city continued to grow as prosperity returned to Montreal after the difficult recession of the 1980s. Older sections of the underground were refurbished and rebranded, while new mega-projects such as 1000 De La Gauchetière added to the existing structure and continued to extend the “indoor city” and link it to more facilities in the downtown. The Centre de Commerce Mondiale, 1250 René-Lévesque and 1000 De La Gauchetière, the largest tower in Montreal, were built in the 1990s, and while each of these is by and large office space, their connection to the underground has fed thousands more commuters through its passages every day. Additionally, tunnels were constructed between the Eaton Centre and Place Ville-Marie to strengthen the link and to aid visitors in navigation, and the Bell Centre was constructed with access to the central passages.

The most recent major addition to the subterranean network took place in 2003, with the construction of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) building and changes to the Quartier International de Montréal, which was made to hook into the underground. The ICAO edifice forged a connection between Place Bonaventure and Square Victoria metro stations, which were also linked to the Place des Arts branch of tunnels, so that much of Old Montreal became accessible through the underground city. Because of the elevation drop in the south of the city descending down to the port, several sections of the “underground” city are well above ground in Old Montreal; for example, one section in the Bell Building at Place De La Gauchetière is on the building’s second floor and actually looks out over the courtyard at Square Victoria.

The final result, the colossal maze of tunnels that circles the city 57 times and distends 32 kilometres beneath the downtown core is confusing at best. Because the “city” was constructed piecemeal, with each section independently planned and appended to the larger structure as the opportunity arose, the final product is labyrinthine and poorly connected. In some areas, pedestrians have to go up or down several flights of stairs to find a connection to the next chunk of passages, and the lack of a skyline and homogeneity of sights make it extremely difficult to orient oneself relative to surface landmarks. The city has deployed several strategies to make the network less disorienting, but each has ultimately failed to make the tunnels an inviting formation to negotiate.



In 2004, a plan was announced to completely rebrand the underground city, with the specific goal of making the passages more navigable and inviting. Bélanger Branding et Design conceived a complete repackaging of the tunnels, including new ceiling-level cube signs, arrow markers and maps at every underground entrance and metro station. The underground was renamed RÉSO, a play on réseau, or network. The RÉSO at least uses consistent signage and distributes maps, but the system is still disorienting and uninviting in any but the coldest of weather.