The Réseau express métropolitain (REM) project, which is accelerating real estate and economic development in the suburbs of Montreal, raises the concerns of several residents, who fear that their neighborhood will be transformed after this project, which is already causing them many ills. of head. Second text in a series of three.
In Sainte-Dorothée, in the west of the island of Laval, the daily life of many residents of a quiet neighborhood has been turned upside down by the REM project, this light rail project of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec which will eventually link downtown Montreal to its northern and southern suburbs, passing through the west of the metropolis.
Met last Friday, JonathanTremblay, a resident of Sainte-Dorothée, guides us in the company of neighbors in a small wooded path connecting a park-and-ride lot to the huge REM construction site, which splits this residential sector in two. Huge piles of rock and earth accompany the heavy machinery, which has been projecting its dust for several months near the many residences located a few meters away. “From time to time, they come and spray the mountain with dust, but we must continually remind them to clean the streets,” sighs Mr. Tremblay.
The thin wooden walls installed in places to limit the noise pollution of this site are for their part very ineffective, according to the residents met on site, who also deplore the passage of trucks in residential streets and changes to road traffic in the area. this sector which makes walking more complex and risky, especially for children.
The “bulldozer” style
“Unfortunately, it’s the bulldozer style, their way of building […] They have no respect for the citizens around, ”says Danielle Bordua, who also lives in this sector. Some residents reached by The duty are planning to move to another neighborhood, their exasperation is so great.
“In terms of scale, this is really the most important year,” confirms the spokesperson for the REM, Jean-Vincent Lacroix, regarding the work in progress in Sainte-Dorothée. This means that, from next summer, the daily lives of the residents of this neighborhood should be less affected by this site, he says. “We have experienced it in other sectors: once the skeleton of the station is built and finishing work done, it is much less difficult,” says Mr. Lacroix.
In the meantime, the spokesperson ensures that measures are put in place to listen to the residents of this neighborhood in order to be able to “adjust continuously”. The route of the trucks serving this site will in particular be revised so that they travel further from the residential area, while “as far as possible” is avoided that work continues at night or on weekends, adds Mr. Lacroix. .
Threatened green spaces
Beyond the immediate impacts of this project, which will continue until the fall of 2024, the REM is stimulating major real estate developments along its 67-kilometer route. In Sainte-Dorothée, three developers are eyeing the Le Cardinal golf course, one of the sector’s intact green spaces, to carry out a huge real estate project, called METTA. A first phase would include 250 houses with three or four bedrooms, eventually reaching 2,000 housing units; all in a neighborhood that currently has around 36,000 residents.
The procedures with the City of Laval are also well advanced in anticipation of the official launch of this project, valued at more than $ 150 million, indicates the director of business development and projects at Groupe Quorum, Maxime Laporte. “Everything is finished: the studies, the bids, the contracts are ready,” he says. To carry out this project, which could get underway next spring, the promoter plans in particular to create new streets in this sector.
“The REM will change the way people travel, so it will have a significant effect on real estate,” confirms the To have to the vice-president and general manager of Royal LePage in Quebec, Dominic St-Pierre. The number of residential units started in Laval increased by 68.3% in Laval in 2020, compared to the previous year, to reach 2,851 units, an unprecedented high since 2009, according to data from the City.
“It will create opportunities to create needs of all kinds”, especially for new businesses near these future real estate developments, says the President and CEO of the Laval Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Caroline De Guire, who is delighted. She also believes that the arrival of the REM will help increase the labor pool available in the western part of the municipality, by making it easier for workers to travel to this sector.
A balance
The potential loss of various green spaces for the benefit of real estate development in the west of the island of Laval, however, worries many citizens and organizations, at the same time when the political parties running in the municipal elections in Laval are vying for promises to ensure protection. green spaces in the city and increase their number.
“All these environments are under pressure for development”, raises the biologist and project manager at the Regional Environmental Council of Laval, Alexandre Choquet, with reference to the still intact natural environments of the city, which the organization claims protection.
“We agree that the REM will improve the economy, but we have to plan it well, and that is what worries us in the sector: that we are moving quickly with projects without planning or ensuring that the well-being of the residents in place is taken into consideration, ”adds Jonathan Tremblay, who also fears that his neighborhood will become inaccessible to many families in the coming years due to the rapid increase in property values, what we are already seeing.