Is a tramway connecting Lachine to downtown a good idea? Transit authority asks for input

Montreal's regional transit authority, the ARTM, has released a series of public transit plans that it wants Montrealers to weigh in on — and they include the possibility of a new light rail line connecting the city's western boroughs to downtown. 

The transit options are part of the Projet du grand Sud-Ouest de Montréal, a blueprint for the eventual public transit link between the borough of Lachine and downtown Montreal, possibly linking further transit hubs like the Dorval train station. 

Pierre Barrieau, a Université de Montréal lecturer in transportation planning and the president of Gris Orange, a public transit consulting service, said the plans presented by the ARTM this week are the result of two years of planning work. 

They will lay the groundwork for linking public transit deserts to downtown as well as providing the infrastructure to allow people to more easily move between neighbourhoods in the suburbs. 

"This is one of those great things about this [plan], it's not going to connect to a lot of stations but it's bringing people to where they want to go but presently the STM can't bring them there," he told CBC Daybreak.

WATCH | Here are some of the transit options being considered: 

See how a rapid bus lane, tramway or Metro could connect Montreal's southwestern neighbourhoods to downtown

10 months ago

Duration 1:16

We break down new public transportation ideas that would link Dorval, Lachine and LaSalle. Montreal's regional transit authority wants residents to weigh in on 6 proposals.

"It's easier to get downtown from Lachine than it is to get to [neighbouring borough] LaSalle."

The six options unveiled by the ARTM this week are the following: 

• A bus transit corridor or tramway connecting Angrignon Metro station to Ville-Saint-Pierre in Lachine, then connecting to the Dorval bus terminal and ending at the Jardins Dorval mall. 

• A bus transit corridor or tramway connecting the same locations in Lachine and Dorval to the Lionel-Groulx and Jolicoeur Metro stations. 

• A bus transit corridor or tramway connecting Lachine and Dorval to the Square-Victoria OACI Metro station. 

• A bus transit corridor or tramway that doesn't connect to Dorval but does link a train station in Lachine to LaSalle's Angrignon Metro station.

• A bus transit corridor or tramway that doesn't connect to Dorval but connects multiple locations in Lachine and LaSalle, including the LaSalle train station, to Angrignon Metro station.

• A metro line extending the Green line from Angrignon Metro station to the LaSalle train station and the Galeries Lachine mall.

The ARTM is hosting a series of public information sessions beginning Tuesday, in the Verdun borough and the agency said it would be accepting public comments and opinions on its website beginning on Monday.