Montreal’s metro line might be getting an extension in Longueuil.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault confirmed Tuesday that Quebec's new transport minister paid a visit to Longueuil city hall this week to talk about a significant project.
“I know that Mr. Bonnardel met the mayor of Longueuil yesterday. We said a few months ago that the yellow line will be studied eventually by our government,” said the premier.
During the provincial election campaign, Mayor Sylvie Parent made her public transit wish list clear: apart from the metro extension, she also wanted a tramway and rapid buses. She has said there'd been no public transit infrastructure investment in 30 years.
Transit advocate Francois Pepin of Trajectoire Quebec agrees that Longueuil needs a public transit upgrade.
“There's a problem at the Longueuil metro right now,” he said. “There are so many buildings, so many people, so many buses and cars. There's congestion right there.”
There are already three stations on the yellow line and if this plan is eventually approved, there would be six more stations heading toward Longueuil. It could take 10 to 12 years, though, before Longueuil will know if the project will move forward.
“Oh there's a long way to go – many studies and many discussions,” said Pepin.
The province has a limited budget Legault said, adding he's still not sold on Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante’s plan for a pink line.
“I still think that as for the preliminary studies that we can have, the pink line is very expensive when you take into consideration the additional number of people that will use it. But we're open – but we said before we're open to the yellow like we are to the orange line in Laval,” said Legault.
Longueuil's mayor declined to comment on the timeline or what this yellow line extension would cost.
