(Lac-Mégantic) Ottawa announces the start of a public consultation on Friday, a new step in the construction of the Lac-Mégantic bypass.
Posted at 3:44 p.m.
Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced the consultation on Thursday, which will run until February 4.
The public will be invited to provide written comments on the project, including on the main planned structures, construction activities, committees and means of communication with stakeholders and the operation of rail facilities, said Transport. Canada by press release.
People who wish to ask their questions in person will also be able to do so during virtual information sessions organized by the ministry. Two sessions are scheduled for January 27, from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
This consultation is part of the application for federal approval of the project to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA). The consultation report will be made public.
Residents of Lac-Mégantic have been calling for this bypass in their community since the tragedy of July 6, 2013. The derailment of a train transporting crude oil killed 47 people and destroyed part of the town.
Other public consultations were carried out by the Government of Quebec, in particular the environmental assessment and the consultations of the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE), completed in 2019, as well as the consultation of the Commission de protection du agricultural territory of Quebec (CPTAQ) in 2020.
Details of the public consultation can be found on Transport Canada’s website.
Minister Alghabra underlined that it will make it possible to obtain comments from citizens “on the implementation of the next stages of the project, including the construction and operation of the future railway line”.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau assured people in the Lac-Mégantic region that work on the bypass “will begin soon.”
The governments of Canada and Quebec are funding the bypass construction project, which will be managed by Canadian Pacific (CP), which will become its owner.
This new railway line, 12.5 km long, will pass through the municipalities of Nantes, Lac-Mégantic and Frontenac, said Transport Canada.
Last November, the federal government said it had set up an office in the area to meet the owners of land to be acquired for the bypass. He had begun to file the first purchase offers for these lands.
The ministry does not provide a specific date for the start of construction of the bypass. The federal government had previously said it expected its “full realization in 2023”.