The Government of Canada confirmed on May 11, 2018, that it would fund 60% of the construction costs of the Lac-Mégantic bypass, estimated at $133 million at the time. The Government of Quebec has confirmed that it will fund 40% of this amount. The project will be managed by Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), which acquired the Central Maine & Quebec Railway (CMQR) in December 2019. CPKC will also own the bypass.
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Why this route?
The choice of the final route is based on numerous studies that were conducted during the project's feasibility phase, and on the proposed recommendation. The bypass route will be 12.5 km long. This section provides the full background on the selection of the current route.
Feasibility study
In 2015, the City of Lac-Mégantic mandated AECOM to carry out a feasibility study of the rail bypass project. The feasibility study was funded by the Governments of Canada and Quebec. In this context, a monitoring committee was formed, with representatives of the federal and provincial governments and the three municipalities.
The feasibility study was carried out in three phases. The first consisted of an opportunity study to identify potential corridors for a future rail line. The resort, submitted in 2016, identified and analyzed three potential corridors. At this stage, the monitoring committee selected Corridor 1.
During the second phase of the pre-planning, three variations on Corridor 1 were developed and assessed. In 2017, variation number 2 was selected by the monitoring committee. Four other variations were studied but were not selected.
The final route selected was communicated in the project funding announcement by the federal and Quebec governments in May 2018.
In 2020, the third phase of the study, the final pre-planning study, was completed. This step incorporated the data obtained from field surveys and geotechnical work, and specified the selected track profile in the chosen corridor.
In general, the following criteria were used to determine the bypass route:
- Technical characteristics (geometry of the track and track slope)
- Safety
- Human environment (proximity to buildings and communities crossed)
- Land planning (acquisition of permanent rights-of-way, affected and fragmented land)
- Natural environment (crossing of waterways and wetlands)
- Level crossings
- Engineering works (necessary structures) and culverts
- Cost
The selected route removes the rail right-of-way from downtown Lac-Mégantic and reduces the number of buildings near the railway. This route was recognized as the most advantageous one by the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement du Québec (BAPE) and as having the least impact on agricultural land by the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec (CPTAQ).
The project involves the establishment of two yard tracks in the Lac-Mégantic industrial park to allow rail operations from Nantes and Frontenac to be relocated to that location, thereby maximizing rail safety. This component was announced by the Minister of Transport on August 28, 2019, and is in response to the request from the mayors and the community of Lac-Mégantic.
Options not selected
West of the Chaudière River, options passing to the north of Highway 161 were not selected, because they entailed greater safety risks given the additional crossing of Highway 161 required, as well as issued raised by the proximity to Lac de l'Orignal and emergency access.
East of the Chaudière River, options involving the route going on the other side of the mountain were not selected because they involved more excavation, entailing significant additional costs.
In September 2020, the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (BAPE) concluded that the route selected was the most environmentally-friendly.
In November 2020, the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec (CPTAQ) approved the acquisition of the agricultural lands necessary for the project and concluded that the selected route had the least impact on agricultural lands.
In 2021, a second application to CPTAQ was made for authorization to acquire a larger area of agricultural land than initially established.
The “half-bypass” option was often raised and requested by various groups, but was not study, because, while its route would avoid the Frontenac sector, it would pass close to downtown Lac-Mégantic.
The different corridors studied are illustrated on page 32 of the feasibility study produced by the City of Lac-Mégantic: