Public Consultation in NDG – November 19, 7pm

Finally, the MTQ people have agreed to hold a public consultation meeting for residents of NDG (for some completely unknown reason they did not originally see NDG as an area that would be directly affected by the new Turcot plan/construction hence the pressure to get a meeting there) on November 19 at 7pm at the Saint Raymond Centre, 5600 Upper Lachine Road.

Of course this leaves citizens with as little time to get organized as possible. Still, there is hope that some of the concerns raised by residents of NDG will be publicly heard.

Here is the blurb from The Green Party.

TRANSPORT QUEBEC HOLDS PUBLIC HEARINGS ON THE TURCOT INTERCHANGE

 IN NDG

   The NDG Green Party of Quebec is pleased to annouce that our
pressure campaign to force Transport Quebec to hold a public hear
-ing in NDG has payed off, and it is scheduled for Monday 
Nov 19th at 7pm at the St-Raymond  center at 5600 Upper 
Lachine road.

 Here are 3 specific important questions about the Turcot 
rebuild that the NDG Green Party would like answered:

1- Will the new electric tram-train link between downtown and 
Dorval  airport, using the CP tracks through Montreal West, NDG 
and Westmount, be  operational before highway 20 lane closings 
occur in 5 years, so that  there is an alternative way for more residents to get downtown or to  the airport before the big 
delays begin? 
 
2- The Turcot planners want to demolish the St-Jacques bridge 
over the  highway in 2010 for several years while they build 
the new highway 15  lanes below.  At the same time, the MUHC 
planners want to close the  deficient Decarie Street underpass 
under the CP tracks in 2010 to rebuild  it as the first, 
necessary step in their controversial traffic plan for  the 
Glen hospital site.  
 CLOSING BOTH THESE KEY ROUTES AT THE SAME TIME WILL ALLOW 
NO WAY FOR TRAFFIC FROM DOWNTOWN TO PROCEED WEST AND NORTH 
INTO NDG.  Please let  the residents of NDG know which will
be first and precisely what  alternative routes will be 
recommended to drivers. 

3- Transport Quebec wants to move Highway 20 and the CN-Via 
tracks  right up against the St-Jacques escarpment to free 
up land near Notre Dame  street for development or a park. 
 We feel that it would make more  sense to leave the highway 
where it is now:
  -if the St-Jacques escarpment eco-territory was fully 
upgraded  into a linear park with a nice bicycle-cross 
country ski trail running  along its length (just such a path 
was started by the RCM in 1994) and  also with several paths 
or stairs running up and down it (one such police  car 
accessible road already exists and comes out on St-Jacques 
near  Cavendish), the residents of NDG and St-Raymond 
(which the city plans to  densify) would have good access 
to this park,
 - at the same time, a new sustainable residential development
 could be encouraged in the Turcot yards because of pedestrian 
and bicycle  access to this park and through it to the retail
 stores that already  exist along St-Jacques at the top of the escarpment.
  -Transport Quebec's plan, on the other hand, would mean 
creating a hard to access from any side strip of park or 
development between heavy industrial Notre Dame St.(with 
the Lachine Canal behind it true, but with even heavier 
industry across the canal there in LaSalle) and the newly moved highway 20.
 

So please come out on Monday Nov 19th at 7pm to the St-Raymond 
center at 5600 Upper Lachine road to hear Transport Quebec's 
answers to these and also your important questions about 
this massive project and its effects on NDG in the years ahead.

Peter McQueen
President of the NDG riding association
Green Party of Quebec
514 678 5515

 

I urge everyone to attend this and see for yourself how democracy is served in this city so Be There!