The City of Vaudreuil-Dorion took advantage of its regular meeting on Monday May 6 to submit a resolution to the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM). The objective? To encourage the ARTM to maintain the Express A-40 shuttle service in the wake of the launch of the REM at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, and to build an alternative parking lot outside Vaudreuil-Dorion to coincide with the opening of this new service. 

It should be remembered that the Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue REM station is scheduled to open its doors, if the deadline is met, at the end of 2024. 

Its commissioning will increase traffic in the Vaudreuil-Dorion area, since local residents wishing to access the station will have to take the A-40 express shuttle to Côte-Vertu, a service whose continuation is not guaranteed, according to municipal councillors. 

“An express shuttle linking the Vaudreuil-Dorion station to the Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue REM station could be implemented, which could bring a significant flow of traffic to our territory. The station parking lot is already filled to capacity due to the situation on the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge.The ARTM owns land along Highway 20 and 40, and we'd like them to build one or more park-and-ride facilities to offset this traffic increase, in addition to committing to maintaining the A-40 Express for at least a year after the Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue REM station goes into service,” proposed city councillor Jasmine Sharma.

A copy of the resolution will be forwarded to the region's MNAs, as well as to ARTM and EXO. Later in the meeting, the elected officials ratified the signing of an agreement with the ARTM for the one-time loan of part of lot 4 559 873, covering an area of 4,692 square metres, for the construction of a park-and-ride lot.

The site is located next to the future municipal hub, in the Vaudreuil train station area.The agreement is for 1 year, and can be renewed as required. “It aims to free up several spaces in the Centre Multisports parking lot, where it is currently very difficult for customers to park. We also hope that this space will allow those arriving later in the morning to have places to leave their cars before taking public transit,” said Mayor Guy Pilon.