Press release
The city and transportation: ADM announces the rail shuttle route
that will link the airport and downtown
Montréal, May 18, 2010 – The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal is delighted with the discussions that look place this morning as part of the event The City and Transportation: Networks and Performance, and in particular the Aéroports de Montréal announcement of the route it recommends for the rail shuttle that will connect Montréal-Trudeau Airport to downtown.
As part of this Strategic Forum, more than 200 participants came to hear transportation experts and decision-makers speak. The morning was an opportunity to discuss the issues involved in a number of base-building projects for the city, worth an estimated total of more than $10.8 billion.
The President of Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), James C. Cherry, presented the route for the shuttle linking Montréal-Trudeau Airport and downtown. The plan developed by ADM, the principal contractor designated by Quebec to complete the shuttle project, recommends a hybrid route between CN and CP tracks. According to the plan, the shuttle would connect to Central Station. “It’s a project that the business community has been eagerly awaiting,” said Michel Leblanc, President and CEO of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. “We are thrilled to see the impetus ADM has given to the project and the possibility of starting work in 2012 for delivery in 2015. It all depends now on how fast the federal government confirms its commitment to this important project for the city’s economy.”
The Chairman of the Board of the Société de transport de Montréal, Michel Labrecque, took advantage of the opportunity to offer an update on certain priority works in progress. He focused on upcoming investments to reinforce the bus network and facilitate intermodality to achieve the Quebec government’s environmental objectives. “The business community places a great deal of importance on the deployment of the public transit network,” Mr. Leblanc said. “The ambition to reduce the car’s modal share requires access to alternative, efficient and high-performance modes of transportation. These initiatives are in addition to the Agence métropolitaine de transport’s projects to strengthen the city’s public transit network.”
Leslie Woo, Vice President of Metrolinx, the agency responsible for planning and operating metropolitan transportation in the Toronto area, talked about Toronto’s efforts in determining and overseeing priority projects. “Our challenges in public transit are not specific to Montréal,” Mr. Leblanc said. “We have to draw on best practices from around the world, and Toronto’s approach using Metrolinx significantly accelerated decision-making. It’s up to us draw the lessons from that.”
To close the event, Florence Junca-Adenot, a UQAM urban planning professor, identified the key challenges to overhauling the Turcot interchange. “The City of Montréal and the Ministère des Transports have to agree on a modern project that meets the needs of businesses and that allows for the fluid circulation of traffic, in particular for the transport of goods,” Mr. Leblanc said. “The approach chosen must not reduce the interchange’s capacity. It has to fit within the Quebec government’s financial framework. And it can’t create new delays that will increase the risk of having to close a stretch of the interchange.”
This event is part of the Strategic Forums series that gives Montréal decision-makers access to high-calibre lectures on important issues for the city’s development and future.
The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal is made up of some 7,000 members. Its mission is to represent the interests of the business community of Greater Montréal and to provide individuals, merchants, and local businesses of all sizes with a variety of specialized services to help them achieve their full potential in terms of innovation, productivity, and competitiveness. The Board of Trade is Quebec's leading private economic development organization.
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Source:
Sylvie Paquette
Coordinator, Media Relations
Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montréal
Phone: 514 871-4000, extension 4015
sylvie.paquette@ccmm.qc.ca