Pink Line seen As local priority By Quebec

For the first time, the proposed Pink Line métro expansion has been formally acknowledged in writing by the Quebec government as a priority for the Montreal area.

While not mentioned specifically by name, “a new métro line” figures in an inventory of regional priorities compiled by Premier Philippe Couillard’s government.

“(Montreal) is banking on projects ... in the area of mobility,” reads the 108-page document, which enumerates priorities for the province’s different administrative districts.

“The creation of a new métro line as well as the purchase of new hybrid buses will contribute to the improvement of mobility in the city.”

Mayor Valérie Plante, who made the Pink Line her signature campaign promise in last November’s election, greeted news of provincial support for the proposal with a broad smile Monday, calling it “excellent news.”

Its inclusion among government priorities shows that “our partners take the Pink Line as seriously as much as we do. That’s clear,” Plante said to reporters at city hall.

“What came out of the discussions we’ve had with the Quebec government and the federal government is how saturated the current network is, including the Orange Line,” she said. “Everyone agrees that we need to find a way to ease overcrowding.”

Later, during the council meeting, Plante reiterated that she has been getting encouraging signals in discussions with partners including

The creation of a new métro line as well as the purchase of new hybrid buses will contribute to the improvement of mobility in the city.

the Quebec government and Société de transport de Montréal.

“The will is there,” she said. Alan DeSousa, the mayor of StLaurent, asked in council whether a go-ahead for the Pink Line could mean that the long-promised extension of the Blue Line would again be postponed.

But Éric Alan Caldwell, the executive-committee member for urban planning and transportation, said the Couillard government has made it clear the Blue Line is the first priority.

The provincial document lists the new métro line among a series of priorities in the transportation sector, including electrifying transportation, improving the cycle-path network and introducing a single-fare system for all public transit.

Last week, opposition members questioned whether Plante was really serious about the Pink Line, since no money was set aside for the project in the city’s $6.38 -billion, three-year capital-works program.

But executive-committee chairperson Benoît Dorais responded last week that preliminary discussions on the proposed métro extension were already underway “with the different partners.”

The proposed Pink Line, whose cost Plante estimated during the campaign at $5.9 billion, would extend diagonally across the island from Montreal North to Lachine.

Originating in the northeastern tip of Montreal North, its 21-kilometre tunnel would cross St-Léonard, Villeray–St-Michel– Parc-Extension, and Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, Plateau-Mont-Royal and downtown.

From there, the line would move above ground for eight more kilometres to Notre-Dame-de- Grâce and Lachine.

Plane estimated during the campaign that it would have an average daily ridership of 250,000 trips and could be fully operational by 2028.