Earlier this fall, on Car Free Day no less, the Journal reported that the South Shore light rail project was dead. It would cost too much, said the federal corporation that manages the Jacques-Cartier and Champlain bridges. This, despite millions of dollars worth of studies that declared the project to be both desirable and fiscally feasible.
No bother to South Shore politicians: they’re fighting as hard as ever for the light rail line that would link Brossard with Central Station, by way of the Quartier des multimédias. “Il faut absolument faire quelque chose. C’est plus que pressant. Le service sur la voie réservée du pont Champlain était un projet pilote… il y a 30 ans. Ça prend un SLR, que ce soit sur l’estacade, sur un nouveau pont ou en tunnel. Mais ça le prend! Ça presse,” declared Claude Gladu, the mayor of Longueuil.
The most likely scenario for the light rail line would be to pass along the Champlain Bridge’s ice bridge. The bridge’s bus lanes already carry 16,000 passengers per hour in the morning and afternoon rushes, about the same as the Yellow Line link to Longueuil. A train could expand that number to 27,000, carrying as many as 120,000 passengers per day.
The projected line would be about 13 kilometres in length, with five stations — most on the Montreal side — a maximum speed of 100 kilometres per hour and a total travel time of 13 minutes from one end of the line to the other. Trains would come every three minutes in rush hour. $1 billion and four years would be needed to complete its construction.
It seems obvious that a more reliable alternative to the Champlain bus lanes is needed to serve the South Shore. This light rail line, which has the support of politicians and business leaders on both sides of the St. Lawrence, would have the added bonus of being the spine for the new commercial and residential development that will be built along the site of the Bonaventure Expressway, which is slated to be demolished.
Given the expense of building new metro lines, especially in low-density suburban areas, it seems like light rail would be the best way to get commuters out of their cars and to encourage transit-oriented development both in Montreal and the South Shore.
One comment
In my opinion the contra-flow bus lane system is an elegant and cost-effective solution. It is more flexible than light rail in that it offers multiple origins and destinations at both ends. The billion dollars would be better spent on at least two long tramway lines in Montreal and on upgrading sububan rail lines to an acceptable frequency throughout the day (including the line on the Victoria bridge.
Should congestion on the Champlain Bridge menace the bus lanes tolls must be imposed. In fact they should be already in place