Bergeron wants new Montreal Tramway

If Projet Montreal leader Richard Bergeron has his way Montreal will be the proud owner of a new tramway by 2017. Bergeron wants a 37.5 kilometer tramway system, which would run down St. Laurent and Rene Levesque, to help stop the surge of young families moving out of Montreal and in to suburbs. A problem he says Montreal can’t ignore. Bergeron says that cheap reliable public transportation would help young families a lot.

While some might balk at the $1.5 billion price tag attached, Bergeron reminds Montrealers that when you talk about public transit, you’re talking big bucks. It cost $743 million to extend the metro to Laval and $3 billion is being invested in the Turcot exchange.

The decision would not be entirely Montreal’s, city councilor Marvin Rotrand remarked that it is the provincial government that funds public transit infrastructure, not city administration. 

If the project were to be completed by the desired 2017 construction would have to start next year. This year’s budget contained funding for research but no construction.