Highway 30: A Sprawl Generator
RE: Highway 30: A Sprawl Generator
From CJAD News/12/15/2012:
“News
Some unhappy with new Highway 30
Truckers and traffic planners are expressing their happiness with Highway 30 that’s scheduled to open today. The new $1.5-billion beltway on the South…
http://www.cjad.com/
Some unhappy with new Highway 30
Posted By: Shuyee Lee slee@astral.com · 12/15/2012 6:00:00 AM
Truckers and traffic planners are expressing their happiness with Highway 30 that’s scheduled to open today. The new $1.5-billion beltway on the South Shore is supposed to ease traffic on Highway 20 and especially the 40.
But some environmentalists are not convinced this is a good thing.
“In our opinion, this is a traffic generator,” said Avrom Shtern, spokesman for the environmental lobby group Green Coalition. He said it’s naive to think this will help divert traffic, especially truck traffic, away from other congested bridges and autoroutes and that a new highway means new traffic.
“Montreal is still the truck traffic generator, of about 70 to 75% of the regional commerce,” Shtern told CJAD 800 News.
“In terms of diverting traffic around Montreal, what this does is downgrade the Montreal economy and it also encourages more urban sprawl.”
Shtern said reserved bus lanes are just a band-aid solution and would prefer more improvements to rail transit, including CP traffic and finally getting the Train de l’Ouest up and running.
“We don’t need more highways,” Shtern said.
“The issue at hand is that the government has unlimited funds for highways but when it comes to mass transit, when it comes to rail, the answer is no.””
Photo: CJAD 800 news archive
http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNews/entry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10479953
Image: http://www.cjad.com/Pics/Blogs/1002658/TRAFFIC-005.jpg
At the November 2012 AMT meeting, the suburban rail authority Chief said that the date of completion of the Train de l’Ouest engineering and modeling study had not changed. December 2012 is the target date. There is a push by the new AMT head to go slower on the file and improve rail service incrementally with new passing sidings, ramped up signalling, increased frequencies and possible electrification from Lucien L’Allier Station to Lachine or possibly Dorval. A “Great Leap Forward” along the line is not probable. The closure of Lachine IMS, (container terminal), and its planned transfer to St. Luc Yard in CSL, will lesson the complexity of crossovers if and when the AMT becomes serious re Train de l’Ouest. I asked the AMT point blank when QC, (all political parties & AMT), will start approaching the people west of Decarie seriously? Their first priority is the Blue Metro line eastward extension to Anjou. I added that busses just don’t cut it and they do not change the transportation dynamic.
