Valérie Plante assured Wednesday that she “does not dream in colors” by proposing to provide Montreal with a large tram network by 2050, while existing public transport lacks funding.
The mayor of Montreal reacted to the publication, The Press, of a map prepared by the City of Montreal illustrating the transportation network with which the administration hopes to equip the metropolis in the next 25 years. The illustration includes several metro extensions, a brand new metro line, but also a plethora of tram circuits.
“I don’t dream in color, I dream intelligently,” said the mayor of Montreal on Wednesday at a press briefing.
Gone are the days when we bring in more people, we build towers, houses, but we don’t think about public transportation upstream.
Valérie Plante
IMAGE PROVIDED BY THE AGGLOMERATION OF MONTRÉAL
Modeling the impact of the density thresholds proposed by the Metropolitan Community of Montreal (CMM) on the surroundings of the Mont-Royal metro station (view towards the West and Mont-Royal). Vision of the development of public transport in Montreal by 2050.
“I love this card,” she also said. “If we no longer want to depend on the solo car, we must find solutions otherwise we will not succeed. » The tram “has always been a mode that we appreciate, among other things, because it is lighter and quite fast,” argued Mayor Plante.
According to the map, Montreal hopes to benefit from an “enhanced service offering [qui] relies on metro network extensions”, notably the blue line westwards to Lachine, the orange line (beyond Côte-Vertu station) to Gouin Boulevard and the green line to the east and north to connect it to the blue line, also extended. The famous “pink line” with which Valérie Plante gained access to Montreal town hall in 2017 makes a comeback on this map.
“This vision for the future includes [aussi] a brand new tram network which adds an intermediate level service offering between the regular bus network and the metro and commuter train networks,” underlines the document.