Citizens worried about the air route planned for the second phase of the Metropolitan Express Network, in the east of the island, replied on Saturday at an information kiosk of the firm CDPQ Infra with their own installation aimed at denouncing the repercussions that this light rail project could have on the residential districts that it will cross.
“Besieged Hochelaga”, “Ma Caisse massacre ma ville” and “800 trains in our windows every day” are some of the shocking phrases that could be read on the signs affixed to a kiosk set up on Saturday at Place Simon-Valois , in Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, by citizens opposed to the aerial route of the Eastern REM.
A few steps from this makeshift installation, which has threatened to collapse a few times during the passage of the To have to Under the effect of the icy wind blowing over Montreal on Saturday morning, the firm CDPQ Infra also held an information booth on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., on the Eastern REM project. In fact, many citizens took turns asking the representatives of the firm about this project. An information kiosk was also set up on Saturday at the Parc de la Promenade-Bellerive, near rue Notre-Dame.
“We are really in open mode and we really want to come back to the population in the coming weeks with architectural perspectives because there are a lot of concerns, but also questions about what it will look like in the neighborhood” , notes the director of public affairs at CDPQ Infra, Virginie Cousineau, when met on site by The duty Saturday morning.
Visual impacts
What particularly worries many citizens is the aerial route of the future REM in the east. In Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, the preliminary plans for the project provide that all eight stations in this sector will be aerial. Even though CDPQ Infra promises to offer an interesting “architectural signature” for this project, several citizens fear seeing huge concrete pylons appear near their yard, especially north of Notre-Dame Street and near the Sherbrooke Street, further east. This will also be the case for a short section in the city center.
“You are going to disfigure a neighborhood which, for 20 years, has been in turmoil,” fears Patricia Clermont, from the Regroupement des residents de la rue Notre-Dame. With a poster in hand showing images of the aerial structures of the first phase of the REM, in the west of the island of Montreal, Maxime Geraldes also says he is “worried” by this project. While he recognizes the importance of improving the public transport offer in Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, he is concerned about the “mode of implementation” of the Eastern REM and its possible repercussions on the landscape.
“I think it will have a negative impact on our neighborhood and our community. We are trying to create a community that is on a human scale and of course, we need public transport […] But afterwards, we should not do anything about the structure, integration and well-being of residents, ”he argues in an interview.
The noise that will be generated by the passage of the REM worries many. In the kiosk set up in response to that of CDPQ Infra, activists against the REM’s aerial route also played a sound sample of an aerial train – it would be the Vancouver Sky Train – to give a overview of what awaits residents who will live near one of the future stations of the project.
“We are sure that there are alternatives to air mode, but it’s just that CDPQ’s will is needed and we are not listened to by the firm,” adds Mr. Geraldes.
A project to improve
Viriginie Cousineau is reassuring for her part. The Eastern REM project, whose plans announced in December 2020 provide for the construction of 23 stations over a total of 32 kilometers, is doomed to evolve. This summer, consultations were already carried out with citizens, particularly in Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, and others will follow in the coming months.
“We have made a lot of progress in the past year and we will make further progress in the coming years in terms of planning […] I would tell you that we really want to arrive with bonuses at the start of 2022, precisely following these consultations. An improved version of the project for this public transport project will then be submitted to the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment, probably in the spring of 2022. “This will be another opportunity for citizens to have their voices heard on the project”, adds Mrs. Cousineau.
Earlier this week, the Premier of Quebec, François Legault, also recognized that this project will have to be the subject of several modifications before it becomes acceptable to the population. While in Montreal to meet Mayor Valérie Plante, he notably underlined the importance of involving the City and the government more in the realization of this project, together with CDPQ Infra.
Last Saturday, hundreds of people demonstrated against the aerial route of the REM de l’Est at the initiative of the Collectif en environnement Mercier-Est, a few days after CDPQ Infra launched a first call for interest on this project, evaluated so far at $ 10 billion.
The full commissioning of the Eastern REM is scheduled for 2029.