The proposal of the committee steered by the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM) to build a Structural Project for the East (PSE) – former REM in the East – underground on its entire route at a cost of 36 billion dollars raised eyebrows among many observers. It also disappoints the mayors of the North Crown who demanded that the train serve their territories.
For the citizens of Mercier-Est, who opposed the aerial structures of the initial project, the proposed underground construction is good news, as is the planned service to Rivière-des-Prairies. “We are happy that they recognized that aerial structures were not acceptable, not only in Mercier-Est, but also near homes in Rivière-des-Prairies and Pointe-aux-Trembles,” explains Daniel Chartier, vice -president of the Collectif en environnement Mercier-Est (CEM-E).
On the other hand, the “pharaonic” cost of the project will be difficult to justify, he believes. His group criticizes the ARTM for not having examined different modes of transport, including the tramway, which could have served the East more efficiently. “But the ARTM’s mandate was very restrictive. Somewhere they couldn’t do anything,” he said.
SATURDAY, The Press reported that the committee headed by the ARTM, which also brings together representatives of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility and the City of Montreal, proposed an underground route and an extension to Pointe-aux-Trembles and Laval, for the north branch, and up to Rivière-des-Prairies and Charlemagne for the east branch. Cost of the project: 36 billion dollars, while the initial project announced in December 2020 by François Legault was estimated at 10 billion.
“I fell a bit out of my chair,” admits Christian Savard, general manager of Vivre en ville. According to him, the proposal does not hold water. He misunderstands that the ARTM favors a light train, but relegates it underground over long distances. The anticipated bill of 36 billion also makes him jump. “There is something wrong here that seems to me more like a political battle against aerial structures rather than a reasoned approach by public transport experts. »
He also believes that in the industrial sectors bordering Sherbrooke Street East, it would have been quite possible to build the REM overhead. “The ‘not in my backyard’ seems to have won and Montreal elected officials have decided not to fight that battle and to bury the project literally and figuratively. »
According to him, the new proposal suggests that only the branch to Montreal North could be realized.
The mayors of the cities of the North Crown who, last May, urged Quebec to run the PSE trains as far as Mascouche, in the north, and as far as Repentigny, in the east, did not hide their disappointment. The proposal put forward by the ARTM releases a pool of 175,000 people and “huge development potential”.
“To see a structuring transportation network reaching, albeit timidly, the territory of the MRC de l’Assomption is the start of good news. But the communities of the North Shore will remain the poor child of public transit,” said Sébastien Nadeau, mayor of l’Assomption and prefect of the MRC de l’Assomption, in a press release on Monday.
For his part, Guillaume Tremblay, mayor of Mascouche, and his counterpart from Terrebonne, Mathieu Traversy, believe that their citizens will be condemned to suffer from congestion given the loss of attractiveness of the Mascouche train.
On Saturday, the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, said she was enthusiastic about the proposed scenario. “The fact that it’s entirely underground is major. It means that there is increased efficiency. »
Regarding the anticipated cost, she underlined that consideration should be given to a mode of financing. She mentioned the possibility of using the Canada Infrastructure Bank or considering a public-private partnership.
The ARTM intends to present the report to the media on Tuesday.
With Lisa Denis