MONTREAL — New life is being breathed into an old debate: whether to extend the Montreal metro system to Dorval.
Montreal city councillor Richard Deschamps of LaSalle made the case for a metro extension to the West Island in council chambers Tuesday morning.
Reached by Global News, Deschamps said a metro stop in Dorval, with additional stops in LaSalle, Lachine and the airport could help alleviate the heavy West Island traffic.
The councillor proposed the Green Line that ends at Angrignon would continue to LaSalle, Lachine, Dorval and the Trudeau Airport.
“It won’t happen tomorrow.”
The councillor said he’s aware the Caisse de Depot et Placements du Quebec is studying the feasibility of building an LRT (Light Rail Transit) to the airport and a new passenger rail service to the West Island (known as the Train de l’Ouest), but Deschamps said he thinks there is still room for a metro.
READ MORE: Train de l’Ouest to link Trudeau Airport hotel to Dorval train station
He also doesn’t believe that extending the Green Line should come at the expense of the Blue Line extension plans to Anjou. The government and the STM are currently studying the latter.
STM Vice-Chairman Marvin Rotrand told Global News there were no plans to consider extending the metro to Dorval. He said he has never seen anything from a government or official authority that would justify it.
“A completely out-of-the-blue suggestion.”
A metro extension to Dorval was recommended to the Montreal’s new land and urban development plan, but the recommendation was not retained by the mayor’s executive committee nor city hall — and it’s not part of Montreal’s mass transit priorities.
“Not judged to be feasible,” Russell Copeman, the Montreal executive committee member in charge of urban planning, told Global News.
History of a West Island metro line
Building a metro line to the West Island has been discussed for decades, likely going as far back as the 1960s, when the metro network was originally built.
Since that time, the population of the West Island has exploded. Today more than 235,000 people live in the mostly demerged cities. But many feel the mass transit network has been insufficient to deal with commuting demands.
Other commuting options?
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Currently, there are two AMT train lines that serve the West Island, as well several express buses between the Lionel-Groulx metro station and the Dorval bus terminal.
Now the Caisse is looking into the LRT, which could make the argument for a metro that much more difficult.
A grassroots organization made up mostly of West End and West Island mayors is also calling for a Train de l’Ouest to be built.
It’s a $1-billion project that would require new railroad tracks to be built adjacent to the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks used by the AMT’s Vaudreuil-Hudson line.
Advocates of the Train de l’Ouest argue the current AMT train service is insufficient, as there aren’t enough trains running outside of rush hour.
The two highways to the West Island, the A20 and A40, are often congested during rush hour.
Many residents are concerned that driving headaches could worsen as off-island housing and commercial developments continue to grow and private contractors prepare to tear down and replace the ageing Turcot Interchange.
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