Green access road set for future Kirkland REM station

When the Kirkland REM train station is ready, there will be a new green roadway to get commuters there quickly.

“What we are proposing today is a different model of development mobility,” said Nelligan MNA Martin Coiteux.

The province is giving the city land off of Highway 440 for the next 50 years to build a park and an access road to the future station near the Kirkland Coliseum.

It will have a reserved bus lane and room pedestrians and cyclists — but no cars.

“We are confident this is the way to go,” said Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante.

“We have objectives for fighting climate change and planning for urban development and it all has to be connected somehow,” added Coiteux.

For years, West Island residents have been asking for the north-south boulevard to help ease traffic near St. Charles Boulevard and Chemin Ste. Marie.

For Kirkland’s mayor, it is a good start.

“For now, it satisfies the needs in Kirkland. We have to start somewhere,” said Kirkland Mayor Michel Gibson.

The borough mayor in Pierrefonds-Roxboro expected that cars would also have access.

“The idea was that there would be cars, and now they are saying there will be limited parking. We will have more traffic than we have now,” said borough Mayor Jim Beis.

The access roadway is expected to cost $10 million and be completed by the year 2023, the same year the Kirkland station is slated to be up and running.