Laval is increasing pressure to relaunch the extension of the orange line, still at a standstill despite repeated commitments from the government. Mayor Stéphane Boyer even says he is ready to deliver a route without expropriation and to segment it if necessary, in order to reduce costs as much as possible.
What there is to know
The extension of the orange line has been the subject of discussions for several years now.
In 2022, Quebec committed to setting up a project office. This has not yet been done.
Laval is now proposing to relaunch the project in a simplified form, in particular without having to carry out expropriations.
“We really have the opportunity to do things differently. There is no precise route on the table yet. It’s the opportunity to agree on the best scenario from the start, to move forward without having to backtrack later,” says Mr. Boyer in an interview with The Press.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Stéphane Boyer, mayor of Laval
An extension of the metro north of Laval has been the subject of discussions for several years. In May 2022, when he was Minister of Transport, François Bonnardel announced the creation of a project office for the extension of the orange line.
This office still does not exist to this day and no money has been included in the budget. The latter is still at square one despite numerous signals of impatience shown by Montreal and Laval last year.
The most put forward scenario is an extension north of the Côte-Vertu station, passing through the future Bois-Franc REM station to Laval. An axis north of Montmorency station and a connection of the two termini, to make the orange line a sort of loop, have nevertheless also been mentioned in recent years.
INFOGRAPHICS THE PRESS
Scenario for the extension of the orange line north of Côte-Vertu station
In any case, “we can do it without expropriation,” judges Stéphane Boyer, who sees this as a major argument for moving forward. “It was a big issue in Montreal with the blue line, but here, the City owns a lot of land. In the city center, there are also large plots of land often owned by real estate funds who have an interest in things moving forward. There is a way to work with them,” he explains.
“It could be a route that is shorter too. It could, for example, only be a few stations in Laval from Montmorency, initially. What is certain is that we have an obligation to better serve this sector,” continues Mr. Boyer.
Simplified governance?
According to the municipal official, Laval could propose simplified governance in order to proceed more quickly.
We are a city without a district with a very simple structure. From the moment we agree with Quebec on a route, things can move very quickly.
Stéphane Boyer, mayor of Laval
His administration reiterates in passing that it is ready to finance the project office in equal shares between the two levels of government.
The City says it is open to the fact that the future government transport agency, supposed to reduce delays and costs, does everything. The creation of this agency is planned for next fall and Quebec aims to adopt a law on this subject by June.
That said, the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM), which manages major transport projects in Greater Montreal, could also be involved. The organization very recently sent, in October, a “preliminary project sheet” to the Ministry of Transport on a possible extension of the orange line.
In the document, that The Press obtained, we can read that the cost of the extension to Laval from Côte-Vertu station would oscillate between 1.8 billion and 6 billion. Such a project “would have the effect of increasing ridership on the west branch of the orange line by 25%,” says the ARTM, which plans to begin construction work towards Bois-Franc from 2027.
An “interesting” vision, says Quebec
Laval anticipates the construction of around 50,000 housing units around the future extension of the orange line, of which 16,000 are “already in planning”, according to the mayor. In the city center, development plans call for very dense development, varying between 15 and 25 floors.
“For the moment, it’s a lot of centers [commerciaux] with parking,” admits the mayor on this subject. “But we know that several owners are looking to develop their land and, above all, that there is social acceptability,” he adds, recalling that this extension also receives overall support of 75% in the population, according to a Léger survey conducted last year.
In government, we believe that Mr. Boyer’s vision of development, “based on collaboration with several public and private partners, is very interesting in the current economic context.” “We will continue work to improve public transport service in the region,” indicated the office of the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault.
In the west of Montreal, the mayor of the borough of Saint-Laurent, Alan DeSousa, also hopes to see the discussions unblock. “It’s profitable on all fronts. That said, I’ll believe it when I see that the money is there. We are not talking about billions at the moment, but only millions to start studies. It takes that to take action,” he concludes.
In the office of Mayor Valérie Plante, we reiterate that the multiplication of public transport projects is “crucial”. “The extension of the orange line to Laval is a good solution to relieve congestion in the metropolitan region and provide an efficient connection to the Bois-Franc REM station,” says press officer Catherine Cadotte.