Funding for industrial road connection coming

BY ANDY BLATCHFORD

andy.blatchford@transcontinental.ca



Montreal’s agglomeration council moved to borrow $1.5 million to build a road that will pave the way for Pierrefonds/Roxboro’s first industrial park.

The notice of motion adopted Nov. 2 by the body in charge of island services will fund the construction of a boulevard that will extend east from the Highway 13 service road and into the neighbouring borough of St. Laurent.

A private developer plans to construct industrial condominiums that will house several businesses, including medical laboratories, along the 300-metre road, according to Pierrefonds/Roxboro councillor Christian Dubois.

The plan calls for a bridge to be constructed over ruisseau Brook, which flows near the border separating the two boroughs, he said.

To help protect the water network from the development, a 45-metre buffer on each side of the stream will be delineated, Dubois said. Vegetation will be left as is in the zone.

The road will end in a turnaround less than 100 metres to the east of the borough boundary, he added.

“I’m excited,� Dubois told The Chronicle. “I’ve been working very hard on (the plan) since January. It’s not easy to find people who want to develop the land and invest money because it’s quite substantial.�

He said the site is ideal because “access is great� to the nearby highway.

Property owners on the new street will pay off the city’s loans over a period no longer than 20 years, Dubois said.

A motion to borrow an additional $2.1 million to pay for phase two — the installation of underground services along the road — is expected next summer, according to a document released by the agglomeration council.

Construction is set to begin in February, Dubois said.

Currently, Pierrefonds/Roxboro has very little industrial area, he added.