A coalition of cities against congestion

Matthew Payen

Thursday, 12 October, 2017 23:29

UPDATE
Thursday, 12 October, 2017 23:29

Look at this article

The mayors of the North Shore can do more of the congestion on the roads leading to Montreal and want to unite to demand additions to the transportation system.

A recent survey from the Société de transport de Laval confirms that the situation is getting worse for motorists who reside north of Montreal. According to 78 % of the respondents, the congestion on their roads has increased in the past five years and 60 % believe that this is detrimental to their health.

“The needs of the solution will increase because our territory is the most rapidly growing population in the province,” says the mayor of Blainville is Richard Perreault.

The mayor of Laval, Marc Demers, promises, if he is re-elected, to convene a summit on public transit with elected officials in the Lower Laurentians.

Photo: Martin Knight

Marc Demers, mayor of Laval

“We are facing a common challenge, since the congestion that affects thousands of motorists each day goes back some morning to St. Jerome, he says. The idea is not to solve the problem in Laval to overflowing elsewhere. “

It offers an ambitious plan that includes the extensions of the A-13 and A-19 with a place dedicated to collective transport, the development of a bus lane on the central median of the A-15, the addition of metro stations in the north of Côte-Vertu on the orange line and an extension of the electrical Network, metropolitan to Laval.

Investments

This plan would require heavy investment on the part of the government. For example, the extension of the A-19 is estimated to be nearly $700 million.

“We are combining with other municipalities, we will have more weight with the government,” says Mr. Demers. And we could force the parties to focus on these applications in view of the provincial elections of 2018. “

For the mayor of Blainville, the important thing is that the adjustments to be made quickly. “The hov lane on the A-15 should be a priority, it does not represent a major cost,” says Dr. Perreault.

The main problem would be to identify the person who may decide to launch the project. According to Mr. Perreault, the department of Transport had told him that he had to see it with the new regional Authority of metropolitan transit.

The Authority indicates that it has the mandate of planning services in transportation, but that projects-add services are made in collaboration with the department, municipalities and transport companies.