On October 30, 2006, the City of Côte Saint-Luc held a public information session at City Hall to inform residents on the status of the Cavendish Blvd. extension project and to encourage residents to contact their provincial representatives to ensure the Quebec government helps fund this important project. All of my life I have been hearing about this potential extension. The words from former mayor Bernard Lang still ring in my ears: “We don’t need it, we don’t want it, we can’t afford it!” Yes, I have reservations. I do not want to see Cavendish become a highway. But the reality is this extension will occur one day, whether we like it or not. When the former Parti Quebecois government announced in 2000 that the extension would take place, it seemed to accept our city’s wishes that there be an “indirect” route. They even set the wheels in motion to have a Project Bureau established. This group has been busy gathering data, studying traffic simulations and environmental issues and conducting technical feasibility of route options . It is more clear to me than ever before that we cannot cannot sit back and refuse to play a role. Otherwise we risk having something we do not want imposed upon us. The City of Saint Laurent always wanted this extension to happen. So has the City of Montreal. Saint Laurent is now a Montreal borough. Clearly, theif influence on this issue is greater than ever before. Some people asked me why we held a public information meeting. Why not? While there remain many unanswered questions, I am pleased with how this evening went. Mayor Anthony Housefather and Councillor Dida Berku provided an excellent overview. It was, in fact, a historic evening. Never before has Côte Saint-Luc ever held a public meeting on this subject, Never before have the mayor and all eight councillors come out in favor of the project.
We now await word from the Project Bureau technical committee and its specific recommendations, which we will respond to accordingly.
What is the Cavendish extension?
The Cavendish Blvd. extension project is a road construction project. The exact configuration of route is still be determined. The project aims to:
Create north-south link from Côte Saint-Luc to Borough of Saint-Laurent
Create east-west link to Décarie Blv
The Cavendish Mall is a major Player here. The loss of revenue and stores I believe is a direct result of negligence on all municipalities. When the mall shrinks down to another size we will realise what we have lost. This is all because we decided to be very un committed to doing the right thing.