At $36B, urban planners say REM de l'Est project needs a rethink

Urban planners are urging Montreal to consider other transport options in the wake of a report on the eastern branch of the city's coming light-rail system.

A report published Monday suggests the Projet structurant de l'Est (PSE), would cost $35.9 billion for an entirely underground route with no link downtown. It would also add four stations: one in Laval, two in Rivière-des-Prairies and one in Charlemagne.

Formerly known as the REM de l'Est, the project was renamed after the Quebec government took it over from CDPQ Infra, which is building the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) network.

Sarah V. Doyon, executive director of Trajectoire Québec — an association advocating for citizens' public transit interests — feels that the mandate of the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) task force studying the project was too limited. The Quebec government had asked her in May 2022 to revise the route of the REM de l'Est.

"Once again, we have no studies of other routes and other modes of public transport. We don't know if we have the best project for the east end of Montreal," she said.

Doyon added that for $36 billion, we "absolutely need to make sure we have the best project for our money."

That price tag is about five times the estimated cost of the original REM network, which will connect the South Shore, West Island, Trudeau Airport and Deux-Montagnes, Que., to downtown Montreal once completed.

Urban planner Gérard Beaudet says the ARTM should have been given "an open mandate" to determine the best system, service and coverage for the territory.

He added that it is "a bit incomprehensible" for the project to have been based, from the start, on a single mode of transport — automated light rail.

"We locked it in a very narrow scenario," he said in an interview with Radio-Canada. "We don't know what a tram network that could be even more extensive, cover even more territory, would cost us."

The absence of studies on the population's transport needs in the report is also cause for concern, Beaudet said.

"What is the future of eastern Montreal in terms of urban development? We have no data on that," he said.

Support for underground tracks

Building underground tracks would give the project "social acceptability," according to Caroline Bourgeois, mayor of the eastern Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles borough and vice-president of Montreal's executive committee. She says the project is a big win for the 600,000 residents east of Pie-IX Boulevard.

The report's recommendations also represent a victory for the residents of Mercier-Est, who were firmly opposed to aerial structures in their neighbourhood, says Daniel Chartier, vice-president of the Collectif en environnement Mercier-Est.

He said his association is pleased to see the committee recognizes that an aerial train "makes no sense, neither in Mercier-Est, nor in Pointe-aux-Trembles, nor in Rivière-des-Prairies."

Still, he calls the set of recommendations a "patchwork solution" to salvage an otherwise "bad project" with a questionable price tag.

"What we have been saying from the start is that the ARTM must study other solutions," he said.

Expect more costs

The PSE would have two access points to the Montreal Metro's Green line at the Assomption and Honoré-Beaugrand stations, but would not reach the city centre.

"The idea of falling back on the Green line rather than going downtown is a bit strange, compared to a Pink line or a tram system," Chartier said, referring to other transit projects floated by the city in recent years.

He estimates it could cost billions just to upgrade the Green line to handle thousands of new riders, though the Société de transport de Montréal maintains the line's existing capacity will be sufficient.

Beaudet underlined that the projected cost does not include land acquisition for the new stations — and that inflation is a concern over the course of construction.

"This is a project that can span a decade," he said.

Quebec's Transport Ministry said it would study the report to find a path that serves the city's "neglected" east end.

"Certainly, the proposal exceeds Quebecers' ability to pay," a spokesperson for the ministry said in a statement. "We will have to work to reduce the costs."

But Bourgeois insists residents of her borough have waited long enough for better transit options.

"Let's not waste time," she said. "The eastern population has been extremely patient. This project must materialize."