Anyone living in Montreal’s west-island and the western suburbs of Vaudreuil-Soulanges has surely heard about the recent announcements that the government has officially approved a $22 million study on building the much needed “train de l’ouest”.
In all the recent press conferences about it, the local journalists have been all atwitter about how there was no mention of the train west of Ste Anne de Bellevue.
Fear. Panic. Oh my goodness they have foresaken us.
Not one of the local papers I have read appears to have a journalist on staff who does adequate research.
If so, they would no doubt known about one of the pending “Grands Projets de Transport” in Quebec, regarding the completion of Highway 20, or as it is referred to in French: Autoroute 20 – Parachèvement dans Vaudreuil-Soulanges. This project involves significant changes to the road landscape on Ile Perrot and Dorion, leading up to the new Hwy 30/540 interchange.
Because this project requires work to the highway in that region, it would be a waste of taxpayer money to build a new railway a few years before it would have be potentially torn-up and re-done according to the new plans.
In the age of headlineisms, why have journalists forgotten to do their part. Why is it that not one thought to ask, “why would they not consider the rail project in this region, if this is the same region that is slated for the next mega-hospital complex with massive population growth?”. Yes, Quebec governance tends to be short-sighted in many regards, but please – this was just sloppy homework.
Highway 20 completion has been on the map for years – at one time referred to as “the 20, completed in 2020″ … still a reasonable target. If they start soon. I encourage readers do read up on it, do research. Dig. Notice the missing train station in Pincourt? Want to keep it? Our voice will need to be heard. To be effective, we need to be well prepared.
