PAVING WAY FOR ACCESS
The mayors of Kirkland and Pierrefonds-Roxboro push for an urban boulevard to create the ‘proper road infrastructure’ for the REM train project
The location for the light-rail train station in Kirkland is set. Now Kirkland Mayor Michel Gibson’s preoccupation is the creation of road infrastructure that will allow for smooth access to that station.
The Réseau express métropolitain (REM) is a 26-station, $6.3-billion light-rail project slated to break ground in late April. Six of the stations will serve West Island residents. Another station will serve the airport in Dorval.
The Kirkland station — dubbed the Jean-Yves station — will be at the RioCan strip mall west of StCharles Blvd. and north of Highway 40. At this point, the nearest northsouth artery accessing that area is St-Charles Blvd.
Gibson and Pierrefonds-Roxboro Mayor Jim Beis agree that a north-south urban boulevard constructed along the Highway 440 servitude west of St-Charles Blvd. is the best solution. Planning was well underway for the road prior to the municipal elections in November, but progress since then has been sluggish.
Gibson’s spirits improved at last week’s Montreal Agglomeration Council meeting where he raised the subject and asked for technical meetings to resume. These meetings gather representatives from the Quebec Transport Ministry, CDPQ Infra, which is managing the light-rail project, Montreal and Kirkland. “It’s about re-establishing the communication which seemed to have gotten lost in bureaucracy,” Gibson said.
Gibson said Montreal executive committee chair Benoit Dorais presented him with a letter from CDPQ Infra confirming that technical meetings should resume as soon as possible. “At this point, there is a verbal agreement to build the road in stages, beginning with a two-lane road to Antoine-Faucon Street,” Gibson said. “But we need the road to continue right up to Pierrefonds Boulevard to properly serve citizens trying to reach the station.”
Gibson said the Quebec Transport Ministry is backing the idea of the urban boulevard, but that it was important to confirm Montreal’s support. Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante has said in the past that she is opposed to any development in the northernmost sector of Pierrefonds, commonly referred to as Pierrefonds West. Opponents to the urban boulevard say building the road would pave the way for more residential development.
“This road is not important because of (the proposed development) of Pierrefonds West,” Gibson said. “It’s important because we need to have the proper road infrastructure for the REM.”
Beis is not as convinced as Gibson that Montreal will support the construction of the road. “We know the current administration is against building the road,” he said. “But with the arrival of the REM, there needs to be access. We can’t hold residents hostage. We have gridlock everywhere. The time to build is now.”
Beis said talk of building the road in stages, with the first stage ending at Antoine-Faucon St., is “acceptable” in the short term, but agreed with Gibson that building all the way to Pierrefonds Blvd. is a priority.
Grassroots environmental group Sauvons l’Anse-à-l’Orme is against the boulevard. Spokesperson Sue Stacho said the road would interfere with the natural movement of wildlife and the flow of groundwater in an area hit by flooding in 2017. “We have to explore other options to get people to the station,” Stacho said. “Perhaps carpooling, car sharing or more bus lanes. But we can’t continue to build the same old thing. We must protect, not build.”