The BAPE report is now available

Québec, le 13 mars 2006 – At the request of Mr. Claude Béchard, Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks , the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) is making public today its inquiry and public hearing report on the Project to improve ground transportation infrastructures adjacent to the Montréal-Trudeau Airport . The commission in charge of examining this project which began its mandate September 12, 2005, included Mr. Qussaï Samak, chairman, and Ms. Judy Gold, commissioner .

The commission concludes that the road component of the project would improve access to the airport, would have positive spin-offs in terms of urban planning and the development potential of the City of Dorval and would improve the flow of traffic and traffic safety, thereby increasing the efficiency of the transportation of people and goods surrounding the Dorval interchange sector.

As for the project’s rail component, the commission concludes that it is unable to rule on the acceptability and pertinence of the proposed works as included in the project. The commission believes that the assessment of that component of the project should be undertaken in an integrated and global manner at the same time as the other elements of a project currently in the preparatory stages which deals with the creation of new rail links serving Montréal-Trudeau Airport .

The commission also concludes that the planned development of cycling and pedestrian networks would strengthen the transportation routes in the City of Dorval , and is of the view that the optimization of these networks should be done in collaboration with all parties concerned. Moreover, the commission is of the opinion that the ministère des Transports should collaborate with the City to establish a bicycle-pedestrian link along Boulevard Fénelon during the project construction period, a measure which would improve the north-south link and also expand the availability of active transportation in the city.

Finally, the commission considers that the ministère des Transports should re-evaluate certain elements of the proposed reconfiguration of the Dorval interchange in order to reduce as much as possible the impacts of the project on the area. Such a re-evaluation should be undertaken in collaboration with the City of Dorval and merchants in the sector whose businesses might suffer adverse effects in the event the Interchange is reconfigured as proposed in the project.

Availability of the report

The inquiry and public hearing report on the Project to improve ground transportation infrastructures near Montréal-Trudeau Airport is now available. The report can be consulted at the BAPE documentation centres, at the consultation centres opened in the community, as well as on the BAPE website at the following address : www.bape.gouv.qc.ca. You may also request a copy of the report at the BAPE office, by sending an e-mail to the following address : communication@bape.gouv.qc.ca, or by calling (418) 643-7447 or, toll-free, 1 800 463-4732.

 

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Source: Jean-Sébastien Fillion, communications advisor
(418) 643-7447, extension 538 or 1 800 463-4732, extension 538