10 April 2008
New CPR Yard Should be Built in Mirabel
Montreal Quebec - It is very telling that Highway 30 will
not relieve road congestion and may do just the opposite.
Indeed, it has not been shown beyond a reasonable doubt that truck traffic will decrease on Montreal Island itself. Many of the
shipments destined for the current CPR yard in Lachine serve Montreal area businesses.
It is unfortunate that CPR and all levels of government are working hand in glove to encourage sprawl and destroy valuable farmland and
marshland.
In March, Quebec Municipal Affairs Minister Nathalie Normandeau approved the Vaudreuil-Soulanges MRC's rezoning bylaw that
effectively authorizes the construction of the new Les Cedres Canadian Pacific Railway yard. It creates an industrial park catering to
intermodal freight transportation. This is not surprising given Quebec's disdain for agricultural zoning.
Although the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Quebec has not yet made its decision, it has so many holes that you can
drive 100 double stack trains through it and still have enough room for 10 football fields. The Canadian Transport Agency has yet to
rule on the project but it seems that it is on the fast track to be rubber stamped and given the all clear.
Although more noise, vibration, and toxic diesel emissions will be created by this project, the 40-metre buffer as
proposed by CP does not even follow the minimum 300-metre setback guidelines for freight yards and new residential
developments as endorsed by the Railway Association of Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
Setback rules are put into daily practice in Ontario and Edmonton, and similar norms will be used in Vancouver's Pacific Gateway
Project. Canadian National and Canadian Pacific have strongly suggested that these proximity measures be made the law of the land. One
has to wonder what CPR's policy precisely is: Is it doing as I say and not as I do?
Hundreds of rigs will use the facility on a daily basis. Trucks with 12-L diesel engines are one of the most offensive
users of air. For one hour of operation by a truck, 111 people could breathe the volume of air consumed for an entire day.
Our transportation system can truly be environmentally friendly. CP's new facility can be located at Mirabel Airport. It has functional
buffer zones and only a short spur would have to be built to connect it with the North American railway grid. Ross Perot Jr. has set
the standard for the integration of intermodal rail and airlines outside Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. J.C. Penney Co.,
Bridgestone Corp., and other blue-chip companies make use of the 17,000-acre rail hub in Alliance, Texas.
Rolling highways of trailers, containers, and trucks can be efficiently shipped on an electric ring railway from Coteau Station and the
South Shore via Valleyfield. Switzerland is doing just that for the handling of transalpine freight. But the willingness to do it here
is sorely lacking.
Avrom David Shtern - Green Coalition Transportation Issues Critic
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