The closing of Décarie Blvd near the MUHC - Westmount's refusal is done to
the detriment of NDG Residents

MONTREAL, Nov. 30 /CNW Telbec/ - Thousands of vehicles will be driving on residential streets in Notre-Dame-de-Grace (NDG) over the next few years while Décarie Boulevard will be closed to circulation for the construction of the new McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). Labourers going to the work site, construction trucks, busses of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and thousands of car drivers will be detoured onto residential streets. "We understand that the citizens of NDG will have to suffer important inconveniences for the duration of the construction period, but is it necessary to add to this? Some simple solutions could have been put in place by the City of Montréal, the City of Westmount and the MUHC in order to ensure that at least labourers and heavy vehicles heading for the work site pass via the access road off De Courcelle street (continuation of The Glen), a road that has already been built," affirmed Richard Bergeron the leader of Projet Montréal and councillor for Jeanne-Mance.

Following an access to information request by Projet Montréal, Peter McQueen, the councillor for NDG, learned that all vehicles destined for the construction site will travel on three residential streets (Girouard, Prud'homme and Crowley) to get to the MUHC. "We should ensure that users and work site labourers can access the MUHC in an efficient and safe manner, with the least possible impacts for local residents, declared Peter McQueen. Gérald Tremblay and Michael Applebaum were unable to convince Westmount Mayor Peter Trent to open the emergency access road already in place on the corner De Courcelle Street. This is unacceptable." It should be noted that the entrance to this road is situated on a street without residences and would thus permit work site labourers and heavy trucks direct access to the MUHC site without bothering citizens in either Westmount or NDG.

Peter McQueen is asking the NDG Member of the National Assembly (MNA) and Liberal government minister, Kathleen Weil, to assume her responsibilities and to defend those citizens who will be affected by this absurdity: "The mayor of Montréal was unable to convince his counterpart in Westmount to permit access, and it is time that the Quebec government passes an order-in-council obliging Westmount to open this emergency access route," proposes councillor McQueen.

Another solution could be to construct a road providing access to the construction site directly from St. Jacques Street. "It is never too late to do things right. While it would be preferable to use a road that is already built, without an understanding with Westmount on this, we should find another solution to that currently proposed by the City of Montreal," indicated Richard Bergeron.

Hellish traffic is foreseen

According to Projet Montréal, the intersection of Girouard and Upper Lachine risks becoming a hot point over the next few months with the passage of work site labourers, construction trucks, STM busses and thousands of automobiles all driving on Upper Lachine Road. "There are some simple solutions here which have yet to be announced by the Tremblay administration. The STM bus lines which go to Vendome metro should continue to serve this metro station without subjecting transit users to unusual delays. We should provide access via temporary reserved bus lanes in order to improve service, taking advantage of this construction period to increase the percentage of commuters using public transit and to reduce the number of cars which drive through this sector," concluded the leader of Projet Montréal, Richard Bergeron.

Projet Montréal has always supported the MUHC construction project in this sector but wishes to minimize the negative impacts for local residents through intelligent and public management of the traffic plan.

For further information:

Source: Joël Simard-Ménard, chief of staff of the second opposition: 514 872-1108