FRONTENAC, Quebec — The results of a Sunday referendum showing strong opposition to the proposed Lac-Mégantic bypass mean the municipality of Frontenac will do everything it can to fight the rail-line relocation, Frontenac’s mayor said Monday.
Mayor Gaby Gendron told the Canadian Press “it’s absolutely certain the municipal council will oppose the project by all possible and legal means.”
The municipality confirmed Monday that 92.5% of the nearly 700 eligible residents voted against the project [see “Quebec town votes against …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 20, 2023]. It seeks to reroute a Canadian Pacific line out of neighboring Lac-Mégantic, where 47 people were killed by a derailment and fire in 2013, when the rail line was owned by the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic.
The bypass project was announced in 2018 but work has yet to begin, after lengthy delays while the Canadian government attempted to negotiate land purchases needed for the new route. Facing entrenched opposition, Transport Canada said in January that it was ending negotiations, with Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announcing earlier this month that the government would begin the process of expropriating the needed land [see “Canadian government begins process …,” News Wire, Feb. 14, 2023].
Frontenac is one of two communities adjacent to Lac-Mégantic that will be affected by the line relocation. Nantes, to the west, passed a resolution against the project in January.
Lac-Mégantic Mayor Julie Morin said in a statement that her town council does not wish to interfere in other towns’ choices, but that “for the population of Lac-Mégantic, the need for construction of the railway bypass remains, both for the safety of citizens and for social recovery.” She urged the federal government to include the maximum number of mitigation measures to mimimize the impact of the project on local residents.
I feel for the people of Lac-Mégantic, however one must wonder if this is a political decision. The RR still serves local businesses in town.
What about the 1979 Mississauga wreck, largest evacuation in NA until Katrina. The city has grown exponentially since then around he wreck site and not only that it is right in Transport Minister Omar Alghabra riding. Not an MP at hat time, however the rail line was never relocated.
Then there was the San Bernardino wreck that took out the pipeline and people died, tracks still there.
Countless other examples I’m sure but I can’t help but feel this is an over reaction to an unfortunate situation.
Canceling the project is the only thing that makes sense. For over 10 years trains have been running safely over the old route. To change to the proposed merely shifts any risk from one community to another at a c onsiderable cost