Cars to be banned on new road to REM station

A new access route to be built connecting Pierrefonds and Kirkland residents with the REM rail network will be off limits to cars, the City of Montreal announced Tuesday.

The move is meant to force commuters to leave their cars at home and take the bus to the Réseau Électrique Métropolitain (REM) station in Kirkland.

The city ’s plan calls for a bus lane and a bike path to run through a new regional park that will be built on undeveloped land north of Highway 40.

The park will connect AntoineFaucon St. to the REM station on the corner of Jean-Yves St. and the Highway 40, next to Parc des Bénévoles and the Kirkland Colisée movie theatre.

The project will also include an overpass atop Highway 40 for pedestrians and cyclists to access the REM station from the south.

“The reserved bus lane and bike path will allow citizens to access the REM station quickly, without increasing traffic in their neighbourhood,” Martin Coiteux, Quebec minister for Municipal affairs and public security said Tuesday.

The undeveloped land reserved for the regional park is a strip that runs north from Highway 40, parallel to St-Charles Blvd. It was originally acquired by the city in the 1970s as part of a project to extend Highway 440 through ÎleBizard and connect it with Highway 40 but the project never got off the ground.

Pierrefonds-Roxboro Mayor Demetrios (Jim) Beis was disappointed by the announcement. He hoped the city would build a new urban boulevard for buses and cars — something he said would be a necessary link for the construction of a new residential development in western Pierrefonds.

“The No. 1 priority of people who live in this area was an urban boulevard,” Beis said.

Mayor Valérie Plante said there will be a “very small number” of parking spots at the Kirkland Station, something Beis thinks will lead to traffic issues in the area.

“Traffic is going to back up on residential streets, people are going to park everywhere,” Beis said.

Coiteux, said that he believes residents of Kirkland and Pierrefonds will welcome the higher frequency of buses and public transportation options.

The REM is an electric train project that will link downtown Montreal to the South Shore and the West Island via Trudeau airport.

Coiteux said the Ste-Anne-deBellevue REM station should be completed by 2023.