Lake Megantic Quebec - A coalition of residents and organizations pushing for a rail bypass in Lake Megantic has chosen to endorse the route selected by the federal government, subject to certain conditions.
 
While the project's review by the Canadian Transportation Agency is still under way the "Coalition of Citizens and Organizations Committed to Rail Safety in Lake Megantic" says it wants to put pressure on the regulator to ensure safety and environmental protections are ensured.
 
Among the conditions, it demands that the speed limit for freight trains be reduced from 64 to 40 kilometres per hour in residential areas and the Lake Megantic industrial park.
 
"We can't accept as a coalition that trains transporting dangerous materials pass less than 1,000 feet from a factory as important as Tafisa at 40 miles an hour," said coalition spokesperson Robert Bellefleur.
 
The factory, which creates particleboard panels, is one of Lake Megantic's main employers.
 
According to studies consulted by the coalition, even more modern tanker cars cannot be guaranteed safe at that speed.
 
On the environmental level, the coalition is demanding additional measures to preserve wetlands and groundwater in the adjacent municipality of Frontenac.
 
The CTA has asked for a more precise evaluation of the bypass's environmental impacts in its latest decision in December.
 
The coalition's executive met this weekend to adopt the position.
 
Last spring, it pulled its support for the project as presented.
 
This year marks a decade since a runaway train filled with oil derailed in downtown Lake Megantic, causing damage and fires that killed 47 people on 6 Jul 2013.
 
Soon after, the town demanded rail traffic be routed around the city, which the federal government agreed to do in 2018.
 
The project remains divisive, even among groups advocating for a bypass.
 
Frontenac's city council withdrew its support in May because of the impact on the water table and wells, and it will hold a referendum 19 Feb 2023.
 
It says it wants more than a two-year guarantee that those whose water is affected will be compensated.
 
The Canadian government is negotiating with 43 owners, including the city of Lake Megantic, over the expropriation of their land for the new 12.5 kilometre bypass.
 
While the project was originally to be completed in 2023, construction will not begin until all regulatory approvals are received, Transport Canada said.
 
Canadian Pacific Railway, which owns the tracks, would not comment on the project, saying it is a Transport Canada initiative.
 
Author unknown.