Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Michel Bourdeau, and I have been the mayor of the municipality of Terrasse-Vaudreuil since 2013. I was also a municipal councillor for many years before that.
First, a little background. The municipality of Terrasse-Vaudreuil is situated on Île Perrot, west of Montreal Island. Our municipality is enclaved between two railway crossings and a body of water. To enter and exit the municipality, we have only two options, both of which involve crossing the rail lines of the Canadian National, or CN, and Canadian Pacific, or CP, railways, which means we have to cross four sets of tracks every time we come and go.
The 3e Avenue is under the jurisdiction of the Ministère des Transports du Québec, or MTQ. Railway traffic has doubled in recent years to approximately 100 trains or more a day, and automobile traffic has also increased over the years. The popularity of public transit grows daily, and Terrasse-Vaudreuil station serves our residents as well as those of the neighbouring towns of Pincourt, Île-Perrot and Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot. Parking is at full capacity and buses provide shuttle service throughout the day. The level crossing at 3e Avenue is very busy, and the risk of accidents is constantly increasing.
Although Terrasse-Vaudreuil council has frequently drawn attention to the urgent need to build a viaduct at that crossing, the Ministère des Transports du Québec does not intend to pursue the project, preferring instead to wait until Autoroute 20 is completed. However, that major project is not on MTQ's agenda and will not be for years.
We find it hard to understand MTQ's inertia. A few years ago, delegates from the department met with the council and representatives of Transport Canada. At that meeting, it was confirmed for us that Terrasse-Vaudreuil was home to one of the most dangerous level crossings in Quebec. The representatives of both orders of government were also deeply troubled by the risk that our municipality's enclaved position presents.
The patience of drivers has its limits. It is not uncommon for drivers to have to wait 10 minutes for successive trains to pass before they can cross, and they take increasing risks at this already dangerous crossing. The accident in Dorion in 1966, in which 21 young people died, haunts people here to this day. Everyone still remembers the school bus that was mowed down by a train. Will we have to wait for another such incident to occur in Terrasse-Vaudreuil before we finally get our viaduct? Since the property required to build that infrastructure has already been expropriated, all that's left is to go ahead.
During the historic floods of 2017 and 2019, Île Perrot, which is one of the two exit ramps to our municipality, was closed due to the rising floodwaters. To the best of our knowledge, the barriers at the crossing frequently malfunction an average of 50 to 60 times a year. Freight trains often block the crossing, and the trains are so long that both access roads to Terrasse-Vaudreuil can be blocked at the same time. This is a major problem for emergency services. The municipality had no choice but to build a $1.3 million fire station on a one-square-kilometer lot to protect our 2,000 citizens.
The safety of pedestrians, motorists and buses should be everyone's priority. Even though, as a municipality, we constantly remind our citizens that it is important to cross safely, their frustrations often take over and they cross illegally.
I have a few brief stories for you. Last week, I was in one of the first cars at the railway stop sign. A lot of cars pulled out and passed me because the barriers were down for about half an hour and there was no train coming. We shoot videos and try to increase people's awareness, but people in a small town like ours are used to this kind of situation and don't think much of it. So it becomes a safety issue because it can be dangerous. We've had at least five accidents in the past 10 years, five of which involved buses. In one instance, two buses were stuck side by side between the two barriers.
We aren't necessarily asking for a huge railway viaduct, but we must at least be able to move people and stretchers under it if a serious situation occurs in our community, such as the one in Lac-Mégantic a few years ago. That's not what we want.
The number of railway cars has increased. Passing trains constantly obstruct our roads. If a train stops, no one can enter or leave. The crossings are approximately two kilometers apart, and the trains are longer than that.
Mr. Chair, I hope someone can help us solve this problem so we can improve the situation and the safety of our citizens.
Thank you very much.