Highway 25 | Endangered species stand in the way of the extension

The Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ) will probably have to go back to the drawing board if it wants to carry out its project to extend Highway 25, after having come up against regulations aimed at protecting endangered species.

Vincent Larin
The Press

That’s according to a set of ministerial notices made public this week as part of the project’s environmental assessment process.

Among the many issues raised by various ministries called upon to rule on the highway extension project, that of the Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change (MELCC) stands out in particular.

Its officials, including the Assistant Deputy Minister for Sustainable Development and Environmental Quality, Jacob Martin-Malus, are concerned to see it cross two “exceptional forest ecosystems” (EFE), namely those of Saint-Alexis and of Holy Spirit.

Last July, the MTQ revealed in its project notice its intention to encroach on areas where there are 779 black maples, several hundred wild leek plants and 100,000 cardamine specimens, three species considered vulnerable in Quebec.

Threatened species

However, it is precisely because of the presence of this species that the project may not see the light of day in its current form, since it cannot be authorized under the Act respecting threatened or vulnerable species (LEMV), specifies the MELCC.

” […] Any activity that would harm a species designated as threatened or vulnerable, caused by a development project, cannot be authorized under the LEMV,” we warn.

In these circumstances, the “avoidance” of EFEs “remains the only solution to consider”. The MELCC then recalls that two projects entailing the destruction of black maple trees were also recently refused for this reason.

Joined Thursday, the lawyer at the Quebec Center for Environmental Law (CQDE) Philippe Biuzzi said he was “pleasantly surprised” to see the LEMV applied “so rigorously”.

In the past, these regulations provided for certain exceptional measures, including the relocation of an endangered species. However, the “updated version” of the law no longer leaves room for maneuver in Quebec, an aspect highlighted in the response of the MELCC.

“According to the legal orientations recently updated by the MELCC with regard to the application of the LEMV, the project [de prolongement de l’autoroute 25] as presented would not be acceptable”, specifies the Ministry.

“For me, it will require a modification of the route, otherwise they will not have the authorization,” said Philippe Biuzzi, emphasizing the “unambiguous” response of the MELCC to the Transport officials.

Other issues

The absence of other planned routes also seems to be a problem for officials from the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks (MFFP), who note for their part that this “constitutes in some way an issue”.

“Based on the information provided by the promoter, it is not possible to assess whether alternative routes could have a lesser impact on the two EFEs present”, they indicate in their opinion. They also invite the project promoter, the MTQ, “to document and transmit information on the variants analyzed for this project”.

But these two ministries are not the only ones to have reservations about the extension of Highway 25.

“The project will have a significant impact on the agricultural landscape that characterizes the study area, since the right-of-way will cross wooded areas as well as cropland”, underline, for example, officials from the Ministry of Culture and Communications (MCC) which insists on the importance of “fighting against the standardization and trivialization of landscapes”.

“Noise, pollution, loss of landscape and quality of life for citizens. The future road will cross 4 peaceful residential estates without noise with access to the forest. Gas line hazard. Destruction of exceptional habitat”, lists for its part the City of Sainte-Julienne, how far the extension of the highway must go.

A “national type” road

The Ministry of Transport did not respond to The Press Thursday as to whether he would consider altering the route.

The project to extend Highway 25, between the municipalities of Saint-Esprit and Sainte-Julienne, in Lanaudière, must extend over 9.12 km.

The “national type” road that the MTQ wishes to build there would consist of two lanes in each direction and a shallow ditch between the two roadways. The speed limit would be 90 km/h. A path for cyclists, all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles would be built along the new road, explains the project notice.

The MTQ wishes to carry out the work between the end of 2024 and the end of 2027.