Preliminary work to start on Lac-Mégantic rail bypass, a decade after disaster

More than 10 years after the Lac-Mégantic train derailment, Federal Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez has announced the start of preliminary work on a rail bypass to move the railway away from the city's core.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first promised a bypass in 2018. But for years, trains have continued to pass through what used to be downtown, much of it incinerated on July 6, 2013 when a train carrying crude oil crashed and killed 47 people.

The bypass will take the railway out of town and Rodriguez announced that while Ottawa will pay for the work, the municipality of Lac-Mégantic will carry it out.

Rodriguez said the federal government has reached an agreement with Canadian Pacific Kansas City for the work and the agreement will allow for a call for tender to hire the contractors.

Friday's news marked the minister's first update on the project since taking over the transportation portfolio from Omar Alghabra in July. Rodriguez says it's important to move forward.

"We're sitting in a city where everyday, everyday, that same train, even longer, is passing by with dangerous products so the people — the same people that survived and lived that tragedy — are seeing and hearing the same train everyday," said Rodriguez.

"That has to stop."

'There's a lot of unknown,' says resident

The bypass has received heavy pushback from many residents in Lac-Mégantic and from people in the neighbouring municipalities of Nantes and Frontenac.

Still, Rodriguez said on Friday that there have been sufficient studies and that he received assurance "that's it's okay to go ahead" with the project.

Kurt Lucas is not convinced.

As a member of a coalition of about 300 locals against the project, Lucas says the plan may not have the proper authorization to proceed. 

Under the Canadian Transportation Act, the construction of any railway requires the approval of the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA).

An email from the CTA, which CBC has seen, to members of the Collateral Victims Coalition confirms that CP did submit a preliminary application in Oct. 2021 for the construction of the bypass but that the agency had not received all the necessary information to complete the application.

"There's a lot of unknown. So again, it's truly premature to make this announcement today," said Lucas.

He is among 43 property owners who have had their land expropriated. Work hasn't started yet, but he says many are concerned about the bypass's impact on the land, wetlands and the water supply.

"As we go forward with this project, the data more and more, it doesn't support this route," said Lucas. 

"It's a disaster waiting to happen."

'Project will go ahead,' says mayor

While visiting Lac-Mégantic, Rodriguez said he met with the mayor and several community members as well as the mayors of nearby Nantes and Frontenac.

Julie Morin, mayor of Lac-Mégantic, says she welcomed the minister's visit. Although she wants to ensure the bypass has as few negative impacts as possible, she says it's necessary to create a safer community.

"We all lost loved ones … It marked every one of our lives," said Morin.

"(Rodriguez's) mandate is clear: the project will go ahead."

'We're going to be traumatized in the same way'

Raymond Lafontaine lost his son, two daughters-in-law and an employee of his construction company.

He was present at Friday's announcement because he owns land that will be affected by the bypass.

He says the bypass project is a political promise but no longer makes sense for the community.

"My message is simple. In life, there is always a balance of good decisions to make that represent us. The bypass project is not passing by at the right place," said Lafontaine.

"There are 80 per cent of people against this because it's not passing by at the right spot… we're going to be traumatized in the same way."

In February, about 92 per cent of residents who voted were against the proposed project in Frontenac and officially confirmed what many locals say they already knew — the proposal is not welcome in the town.

WATCH | Lac-Mégantic mother opens up about losing her son in the rail disaster:

Lac-Mégantic mother opens up about losing her son in the rail disaster

1 year ago

Duration 1:00

Isabelle Boulanger shares how she deals with the loss of her son, Frédéric Boutin, who was one of the 47 killed when a train carrying oil derailed in the middle of her town in 2013.