Montreal affirms plans for new container terminal

Port meets with residents of Contrecœur on plans to build terminal to open around 2021.    The Port of Montreal said this month that it’s continuing with efforts to develop a new container terminal at Contrecœur, Quebec, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River downriver from Montreal.
   The port said it held an information meeting Dec. 1 for the residents of Contrecœur and nearby Verchères.
   “Planning efforts have been ongoing for several years. Given that the project is estimated to take 10 years in total, we are now in the fourth year of planning and development,” the port authority said in a statement. “We have taken steps to obtain the necessary permits to this project. Obtaining these permits will have to be combined with other success factors for this terminal to take shape: continued growth of the container market, positive impacts from the Economic Agreement between Canada and the European Union, etc.”
   The Port of Montreal wants to build a two-berth terminal that would handle 1.15 million TEUs and include an intermodal rail yard.
   It plans to start construction around 2018 if it can obtain the necessary approvals. Given current growth projections, the port said the terminal would begin operating in 2021.
   The terminal is needed, the port authority explained, because current container-handling facilities on the island of Montreal are expected to reach full capacity around 2020.
   The port acquired between 1988 and 1992 the existing terminal at Contrecoeur and surrounding land totaling 1,156 acres. The area has had port activity since the mid-1950s.