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CDPQ has abandoned a $ 10 billion transit project that will now be managed by Quebec and Montreal.
Author of the article:
Marian Scott • Montreal Gazette
Publication date:
May 2, 2022 • 22 minutes ago • 4 minutes of reading • Join the conversation. The depiction was made public on Wednesday, March 9 at the proposed REM de l’Est. Designers have returned to the drawing board to respond to criticism that the proposed transit network will create a mark on the cityscape. Courtesy of CDPQ Infra
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Quebec and Montreal are taking over the controversial REM de l’Est project after the Quebec pension fund manager withdrew from the project, Prime Minister Francois Lego and Mayor Valerie Plant announced on Monday.
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The $ 10 billion $ 32 billion light rail project proposed by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has angered groups of citizens and heritage organizations, who are pushing the raised part like an instant wound in the eye that will rise over the eastern center. of the city.
In February, Montreal’s regional transit authorities said planners should return to the drawing board because REM de l’Est would be costly to manage, disfigure Montreal and provide no obvious benefit to most eastern travelers.
At a press conference at the Montreal City Hall, Lego and Plante said they had heard citizens’ complaints and criticism from experts and would radically reconsider the transit project to respond to them.
Monday’s announcement “proves that we listen to citizens,” Lego said.
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The central part of the light rail project will be eliminated and the rest will be better integrated with the Green Line of the metro, he announced.
The new project will also be modified to better fit the Mercier-Est district, he said, where residents are protesting, warning that it would overshadow their homes and reduce property values.
The future rail link could be the key to unlocking the huge potential at the eastern end of Montreal, said Lego, who stressed the need to revitalize the former industrial zone in his 2013 book Cap sur un Québec gagnant: le projet Saint-Laurent.
Lego said the project could help turn the former oil refinery into a “small Silicon Valley”. He would also like to extend the railway to Laval and the Lanodier region.
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While the prime minister said he wanted to move the revised project as quickly as possible, the opening of the train without a driver is likely to be postponed beyond the original 2029 target.
The new team, representing local and regional transit authorities, as well as the city and province, will have to determine the new details, schedule and budget, he said.
Plante welcomed the decision to press the reset button as a result of what she dreamed of when she turned to Lego to look for improvements to REM de l’Est.
This shows that “when there is a will, there is a way,” she said.
“The prime minister and I are on the same wavelength,” added Plante, who insisted that Montreal take a seat at the table when planning the railway project.
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“There is an important need for public transport in this area, and this is something that the prime minister and I are deeply committed to,” she said.
It was clear that “the aerial section crossing the city center would be a historic mistake that we absolutely had to avoid,” Plante said, noting that the giant structure would have a catastrophic impact on Chinatown and Morgan Park in the Hochelaga district.
In a statement from CDPQ Infra, the subsidiary of Caisse de dépôt, which was responsible for the project, defended its record, saying its latest proposal integrated more than 80 percent of the recommendations made by an expert commission to improve the railway architecture. and urban integration.
“CDPQ Infra designs and presents to the public a detailed, ambitious and achievable architectural proposal to effectively meet the challenge of sustainable transport for hundreds of thousands of citizens in the eastern part of the metropolis,” the statement said.
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In March, CDPQ Infra unveiled some design changes that it hoped would reassure critics who said the erected train would cause a city scar comparable to the Metropolitan Expressway.
The tweaking involved replacing the massive pillars of the original REM project on the West Island and South Coast with more decorative ones and using a lighter color of concrete.
Daniel Chartier, vice-president of the Collectif en environnement Mercier-Est, welcomed the change of direction.
“We are very happy,” he said. It will be up to the new team to come up with a solution for the East End neighborhood, where citizens strongly oppose a hoisted train along Sherbrooke St. E. or Souligny Ave., he said.
“An objective and impartial analysis is needed,” Chartier said.
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The municipal opposition has warned that a change in governance will delay the project.
“With this return to the drawing board and the discussions that need to be initiated with the new partners, it is clear that Montreal residents in the east and northeast will have to wait to see this public transport project come true,” Aref said. Salem, interim director of the Montreal Ensemble.
The Montreal Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce also complained that the project would be delayed.
“The Chamber of Commerce has been calling for years for a fast and efficient public transport link connecting the eastern part of the metropolis with the center,” President and CEO Michel LeBlanc said in a statement.
“Today’s decision unfortunately calls into question the possibility of continuing quickly,” he added, urging the government to “commit to a clear timetable” and open a new line by 2030.
East Montreal Chamber of Commerce also called for the project to be completed within 10 years. The new rail link should be a “lever to revitalize the territory”, the statement said, while the $ 10 billion price, plus $ 2.5 billion for urban integration, must be maintained. He regretted that REM de l’Est would no longer go all the way to the center.
mscott@postmedia.com
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Hannes: Why not consider alternatives to REM de l’Est?
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Hannes: The devil will be in the details of Caisse REM de l’Est’s new plan
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