Cities in the east of the northern crown | “Citizens are in favor of public transport”

The cities in the eastern part of the northern crown absolutely need the future REM de l’Est to be extended to their homes to make up for the public transit deficit in their sector. This is what they intend to put forward during the forum on mobility which will take place in Repentigny this Monday.

Isabelle Ducas
The Press

This request has the support of the population, according to a Léger survey commissioned by the cities of the region in anticipation of their forum: 69% of the 500 respondents living in 7 municipalities in the sector believe that extending the REM would be an effective solution to improve the traffic in the area.

In addition, 68% believe that the supply of public transport to Montreal should be increased.

According to the mayor of Repentigny, Nicolas Dufour, these results show that the population is ready to abandon the solo car if they are offered interesting and effective alternatives.

Since the Government of Quebec withdrew the REM de l’Est project from the hands of CDPQ Infra and discussed an extension of the two branches of the future train to Laval and Lanaudière, the mayors of the MRC Les Moulins and the MRC de The Assumption can be optimistic, according to Mr. Dufour.

“The government has confirmed its interest in an extension to our region. The Prime Minister [François Legault] and M^me [Valérie] Plant [mairesse de Montréal] said they were impatient and I believe them. We too are impatient, because citizens have been wasting their time in traffic for far too long,” said the mayor of Repentigny,

“That the Prime Minister is committed, especially on the eve of an election, to carrying out this project, that allows us to see the light at the end of the tunnel. »

A disrupted train line

Remember that the “train de l’Est” of the company exo, which connects Mascouche and Montreal, via Terrebonne and Repentigny, saw its route disrupted by the work of the REM de l’Ouest: as it can no longer take the tunnel under Mount Royal, the train now makes a 30-minute detour. With the added consequences of the pandemic, ridership on the train line has collapsed.

Among the other demands that the cities of the region will make to the Government of Quebec at Monday’s forum: the establishment of reserved lanes for public transport on Highway 25, between the North Shore and Montreal, as well as the redevelopment of the intersection of highways 40 and 640.

“97% of citizens are of the opinion that there are congestion problems between our municipalities and Montreal, it’s hard to be more unanimous than that! “, emphasizes Nicolas Dufour.