Posted yesterday at 11:00 a.m.
An irrational attitude
You are quite right to point out that, without precise knowledge of the costs, including those of landscaping, we cannot reasonably accept this project. It would be totally irrational. The ambient images shown to us have nothing to do with real visual simulations. These images serve precisely that purpose: to give an impression of tranquility and beautifully organized open spaces. However, nothing will happen. We must demand that CDPQ Infra produce real visual simulations taken from photos showing us the reality as it is, without any artifice, especially since they will not take care of the developments on the perimeter of the REM, such as its representatives openly admit it.
Pierre Vaillancourt, Longueuil
Lousy
This project is so badly put together that CDPQ Infra has to be sent back to do its homework. What gives the Caisse the right to destroy our urban environment and cannibalize our public transit network? The ARTM must be the prime contractor for the planning and development of the public transit network. If the REM de l’Est project does not constitute added value at a reasonable cost, it must be abandoned.
Ginette Lamontagne
From success to failure
What was announced as a great success at the start is moving more and more towards an economic fiasco. Hello, is there someone on board to intervene before it’s too late?
Roger Gagnon
Long live the action!
Mme Grammond, you don’t quantify the cost of inaction. Talk talk, talk talk… in Quebec, we are the champions in this sphere. Personally, I like something imperfect that doesn’t get everyone’s approval, but gets delivered, rather than something that’s going to be imperfect and never gets everyone’s approval, and never gets delivered anyway. because of the parochialism of the supposed experts. Long live the action.
Marc-Andre Gervais
One thing at a time…
We must also underline the development costs that cities and municipalities will have to assume to reduce the effects of the REM on the visual and sound environment. It will first be necessary to repair the many fractures caused by the REM de l’Ouest to reduce noise pollution, hide or integrate the huge ugly structures of this train. Like, for example, the road that passes through the middle of the peaceful and beautiful town of Mount Royal. Who will pay to erect a green wall to hide these piles of wires and reduce the noise pollution caused by this horror? I think that before moving forward with phase two of the REM, the municipalities through which the REM de l’Ouest passes must be subsidized to ensure that it is integrated and that the harm it causes is corrected. Next, a serious study must be carried out to assess whether a REM in the East is really necessary at the moment, because it is far from certain that the clientele will be there given the teleworking which is becoming more and more the standard.
Jacques Bournival
Other options?
In the context of the REM project, why is the metro extension never mentioned as a viable option?
Edouard Archer
Wait
First, that the authorities of Montreal and Quebec wait a bit to see if the REM de l’Ouest is a success, if it is busy, if it really encourages people to take public transport and if its usefulness makes people forget its ugliness! And then we can make an informed decision. My proposition ? See if we can increase the capacity and frequency of the green line, and connect it to rapid transit going to Montreal North. And finish extending the blue line.
Bernard Terreault
Systematic challenge
Obviously, whenever there is a question of a project in the east end of Montreal (where the left reigns), protest always invites itself, no matter what is proposed, apart of course from the bike paths and the social housing. Meanwhile, in the west, everything is taking shape and I can’t wait to stop having to take the car or taxi to get to the airport. We live in a province where I often have the impression that we are fueled by demonstrations and protests. I remind you that even the subway, at the time, had aroused disapproval.
Marc-Andre Sabourin
Costly masquerade
Agree with your analysis. And I would add that the models present us with a completely unrealistic portrait, disguising the landscape. Who will go for a walk on René-Lévesque? There are no shops, cafes, restaurants, it’s a street of impersonal buildings. Few journalists talk about this deception to sell us the beautiful REM. It is reminiscent of Square Viger, after its demolition and the construction of the 720, where we installed a kind of park to forget the concrete, facilities for children… no one visited this place except people in a situation of ‘roaming. And we continue this masquerade with expensive design.
Normand Bissonnette
The Eastern REM, a fantastic project
First some facts: the subway is saturated. Extending the orange and green lines is no longer possible, as they reach their maximum capacity. The simplistic solutions of stopping the REM at Honoré-Beaugrand or Radisson unfortunately do not hold water.
The pink line was a good solution to relieve the orange and the green. The rapid bus service (SRB) on Pie-IX, too, is built for this reason. Moreover, this SRB will worsen the saturation of the green line, because it brings customers to the Pie-IX metro station.
For the east of the city, a parallel line is absolutely necessary. The REM de l’Est route is perfect for relieving orange and green and, contrary to what is conveyed, there will be a connection with the metro at L’Assomption station.
As for René-Lévesque Boulevard, there are offices, condos with closed windows and polluting vehicles. I wonder what we are going to disfigure. I don’t know anyone who takes their children for a walk on René-Lévesque. The project as presented can only change the situation.
We are talking about an urban divide. I am okay. But not the one we think. For the people of the east, being promised projects that never come to fruition, being piled up like sardines in a saturated metro, having our children’s air polluted, for decades, in all the neighborhoods that border rue Notre-Dame, being told that it takes more and more studies, that’s what I call an urban divide.
We do not talk enough about the tremendous positive side of this project, its structuring and promising side. We have to think of workers, students and seniors who will be able to get downtown in 30 minutes, to offices, hospitals, universities, CEGEPs and museums. Not to mention Chinatown, the gay district, the Quartier des Spectacles, Sainte-Catherine Street, Old Montreal, Mount Royal, etc.
No project will be unanimous, but the REM de l’Est project is extraordinary for the entire Montreal region.
Michel Fraser, citizen of Pointe-aux-Trembles, Montreal