The Quebec government is allocating billions of dollars to repair and rebuild the province’s ailing road network system including highways, tunnels and bridges.
But some road projects aren’t on the government’s to-do list, leaving some local officials questioning the government’s priorities.
A stretch of A20 in Vaudreuil-Dorion is riddled with traffic lights and intersections slowing down traffic on a key highway corridor linking Quebec with Ontario.
For years, the local mayor has been asking that a two-kilometre bypass road be built that would alleviate the congestion on this stretch of highway, but this proposal is not among the dozens of road work renovations planned in the government’s list of capital works projects for the next decade.
“Yes, I’m upset. Yes, yes, of course I’m upset,” Guy Pilon, Mayor of Vaudreuil-Dorion, told Global News.
Pilon says the government has owned the land adjacent to the CN tracks for decades and there is nothing impeding the construction of a new road devoid of lights.
Pilon says the bypass could run from Parc Sabourin in the east to Harwood Road in the west and then reconnect with the A20.
“It’s not hard to do. You need a bulldozer, truckload of stone and put the asphalt and it’s done,” he said.
And plans to extend Cavendish Boulevard between Côte Saint-Luc and the Saint-Laurent borough remain under the ‘to study’ list of the government’s capital works projects.
The extension falls under municipal jurisdiction and a new plan to extend the road has been submitted to Quebec’s public hearings office on the environment (BAPE) but there will likely be a financial component from Transports Québec and some would like to hear a commitment.
“We would like to see the MTQ (Ministère de Transports Québec) come to the table, ante up in terms of a portion of financing and work with the city to make sure Cavendish does see the light of day” Saint-Laurent borough Mayor Alan DeSousa told Global News.
No one from Transports Québec would comment.