Saint Laurent Mayor DeSousa continues to press for metro extension

MONTREAL – Saint Laurent is a fast-growing borough of Montreal and needs a Metro link of its own, Mayor Alan DeSousa says.

“Businesses are booming; we have companies like Eriksson, companies like ABB, companies like Green Cross who are choosing to locate their offices in our community,” said DeSousa. “With them they are bringing hundreds if not thousands of jobs to our community, and at the same time these employees will choose to live close to their place of work.”

READ MORE: Push is on to extend Montreal’s orange metro line

DeSousa wants the Orange Line to extend from the Côte Vertu Metro station to the Bois-Franc train station, where the electric train will eventually pass through.

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“I am reasonably optimistic that this proposal not only makes good financial sense but makes good economic sense,” said DeSousa.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I am reasonably optimistic that this proposal not only makes good financial sense but makes good economic sense," said DeSousa.

Desousa wrote to the Quebec Minister of Transportation Jacques Daoust outlining why he believes extending the Orange Line is an obvious choice.

Daoust has opened the door to suggestions on how to improve access to Metro stations from the future electric line.

Global News reported that DeSousa has been asking the government to move on his proposal since February, but the government stayed silent until Friday.

“People from the Yellow Line want to have an extension, the Orange Line want to have extension, Blue Line, Green Line, all lines,” said Daoust. “Well, presently what we’re doing is working on the Blue Line, it does not mean that we’re not looking at what is happening on the Orange Line.”

The provincial government has bought more land in Saint Laurent. It purchased a lot one kilometre away from Côte Vertu station on the corner of Marcel-Laurin and Grenet to store its new Azur trains underground.

And the mayor is asking why stop there.

“Let’s be opportunistic, let’s take advantage of an existing project that will cost $400 million to do,” said DeSousa. “Let’s take advantage of the presence of that equipment, machinery and man power to do the little bit that we need to do to connect the metro system to the electric train.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Let's be opportunistic, let's take advantage of an existing project that will cost $400 million to do," said DeSousa. "Let's take advantage of the presence of that equipment, machinery and man power to do the little bit that we need to do to connect the metro system to the electric train."

While DeSousa continues to ask the government for the extension, Transport Minister Daoust has heard his message.

“It’s not if it will happen, it’s just when and for this we need financing.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's not if it will happen, it's just when and for this we need financing."