“It kills us”: Montreal’s West Island mayors renew push to expand Jacques-Bizard corridor

Mayors in Montreal’s West Island are united in pushing once again for the expansion of the Jacques-Bizard corridor, a project they say would not only bring much-needed traffic relief, but would also save lives.

With recent reports that ambulance response times in the area are some of the longest in Montreal, mayors say the expansion is more important than ever.

“It’s a question of (whether) Urgences Santé can get to an average home, let’s say, in 10 minutes and you’re looking at 14, 15 minutes to get to your house. That could be the difference between life and death,” said Dollard-des-Ormeaux Mayor Alex Bottausci.

According to Urgences Santé numbers, it can take up to 15 minutes and eight seconds to get an ambulance to Beaconsfield, 14 minutes and seven seconds to Kirkland, and 14 minutes and four seconds to Dollard-des-Ormeaux.

Some experts argue the ideal response time is under eight minutes.

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“It kills us, it kills us,” Bottausci said.

Bottausci and other West Island mayors partially blame traffic and lack of direct access to the Lakeshore hospital from some areas of the West Island for the response times.

“Especially if you’re on the north side,” said Kirkland Mayor Michel Gibson. “To get to the hospital, you got two boulevards: Saint-Charles and St-Jean. These boulevards are so crowded that it prevents these ambulances coming from a residential area.”

Bumper to bumper traffic on St-Jean Boulevard and Highway 40 is a regular occurrence at any given time of the day.

“You’re looking at about 1,800 cars per hour,” Bottausci said.

Bottausci also said it’s not just a traffic nightmare — it’s putting lives on the line.

That’s why there is a renewed push to expand the Jacques-Bizard corridor.

For the past four decades there have been discussions to build a boulevard from Shakespeare Street in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, all the way to Highway 40.

It would culminate in an underpass right next to the new Pointe-Claire Réseau Express Métropolitain (REM) station.

But Bottausci said the project was quietly taken off the plans a few years ago.

West Island mayors wrote a letter last December to ask Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante to bring the expansion back .

“That’s one of the major concerns and again, no reply,” Gibson said.

Meanwhile, Plante says the project is no longer needed. Instead, there will be a 1.2-kilometre mobility corridor along Highway 40 with a dedicated bus lane and a bike path.

Plante said she hopes the upcoming REM will help ease traffic.

“It’s not planned for now,” Plante said when asked on Feb. 27. “Maybe we can wait to see how it goes with the REM.”

Bottausci said he is personally inviting Plante to the West Island to see the situation for herself.