JOSHUA ALLAN
The 1019 Report

A group calling for the construction of a high-speed bypass route for Highway 20 in Vaudreuil-Dorion is speaking out after the Quebec government turned down a request to study the project last month.

“It makes absolutely no sense at all in my view,” said Pierre Z. Séguin, one of the members of The Alliance of Citizens for a Real Highway 20.

This past summer, Séguin and a group of volunteers collected more than 16,000 signatures on a petition in support of the group’s call for the construction of a bypass route that would redirect heavy traffic away from Harwood Blvd. in Dorion. The urban thoroughfare, which connects directly from Highway 20, is currently one of the last sections of a major highway in Canada that is controlled by traffic lights.

Adding to the group’s frustration is the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s plan to become a minority stakeholder in a plan to build a tramway in Quebec City, a project the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, it was revealed last week, will invest $1 billion in  to move forward. It is estimated the construction of a tramway will cost $5.7 billion.

This “makes absolutely no sense,” Seguin said.

Harwood Boulevard in the Dorion sector links Highway 401 directly with Montreal, leading to heavy vehicle congestion. Around 87,000 cars and trucks use the boulevard each day, causing traffic headaches for local commuters and local businesses alike. Adding to the congestion is the increased traffic seen on the artery as ongoing work on the Île aux Tourtes Bridge along Highway 40, the only other link between Vaudreuil-Soulanges and Montreal, is regularly diverted to Harwood.

“The economic activity in Quebec is between Montreal and Toronto,” Seguin said. “That means to go (directly) to Toronto from Montreal, you take Highway 20.”

The group’s proposal would see the construction of a high-speed bypass starting at Taschereau Bridge, which links Île Perrot to Vaudreuil. The high-speed lanes would run westward north of Harwood alongside the railway tracks for about three kilometres before reconnecting to Highway 20 on the outskirts of the municipality. The group maintains that the plan would relieve Harwood of much of the daily bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Vaudreuil MNA Marie-Claude Nichols, who sponsored the petition, also expressed her disappointment in the CAQ government’s decision.

“Thousands of people asked their government to intervene, but the government told them it didn’t even want to talk about it,” she said in a statement issued last month. “This is unacceptable.”

The construction of a bypass route is not a new issue. Residents in Vaudreuil-Dorion have been calling for such a project since 1964 to no avail.

But Séguin confirmed the group is not giving up and will be meeting next week to discuss next steps.

“It’s a long-term issue and we’re going to keep working,” he said.