There is no easy way to get to the Trudeau airport.
The convoluted drive for millions of passengers is a labyrinth of confusing turns, stops and badly placed road signs.
And now the problem is being played out at city hall.
Montreal city councillor Guillaume Lavoie (Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie) is leading the charge to find out why there has been very little progress with the Dorval interchange.
He’s demanding to know why progress to finish the half a billion dollar Dorval exchange has become tangled in delays and cost overruns.
It was initially announced at $150 Million in 2005 but by 2012 the cost had skyrocketed to $507 million.
“Montreal is probably the worst place in the world in terms of linking its airport to the downtown area,” Guillaume said from the foyer of city hall.
The impasse to finishing the project remains a legal dispute between Canadian Pacific Rail and Transports Quebec.
The government doesn’t have permission to build support pillars on land owned by CP.
The pillars are needed to finish the widely known “overpass to nowhere” that sits above highway A20 and CP tracks.
Negotiations between CP and Transport Quebec have lasted for more than one year.
But still — no deal has been reached.
Guillaume argues Montreal mayor Denis Coderre should be putting more pressure on Transport Quebec to find a solution.
“The mayor in that role is a lobbyist,” Guillaume said.
Coderre insists he has been in talks with the Transport Minister and admits more work is needed.
“We can all be frustrated but I think now we have to work together to make things happen,” Coderre said.
There is no new deadline in place when the Dorval interchange will be finished.
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