Never-ending negotiations to finish Dorval interchange

DORVAL – 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 the problem is now being played out at city hall.

“Montreal is probably the worst place in the world in terms of linking its airport to the downtown area,” said City Councillor Guillaume Lavoie.

Lavoie is demanding to know why progress to finish the half billion dollar Dorval interchange has become tangled in delays and cost overruns.

He is calling on Mayor Coderre to put more pressure on Transport Quebec to get the job done.

“The mayor in that role is a lobbyist,” he said.

In 2005, Transport Quebec announced the project at $150 million with a completion date of 2011.

By 2012 the costs had reached more 500 million.

Now, the price tag – and the finish date – are being filled with a large question mark.

“I spoke already to the Government of Quebec on that issue,” said Mayor Denis Codere.

“There’s some step-by-step.”

Coddere insists it’s not just up to him to get this project done.

“We can all be frustrated but I think now we have to work together to make things happen,” he said.

Nevertheless, the issue remains that very little is happening.

There was no sign of workers nor heavy equipment on site when Global News visited on Monday.

It was the same situation almost two weeks ago – the infamous overpass to nowhere still leads to nowhere.

“It is frustrating and quite frankly that’s one of the issue,” said Lavoie.

The sticking point remains a legal dispute that has CP Rail and Transport Quebec at an impasse.

The government wants to install support pillars for the elevated structure on land owned by CP, but it doesn’t have permission leading to over a year of negotiations.

“We have to do better,” insists Coderre.

“We have to do it.”

A spokesperson for Transport Quebec says negotiations are still going on with Canadian Pacific to finish the infamous overpass, but the longer those talks take the more the project gets delayed and the more the costs go up.