Laval’s city council decided to move forward with a long-awaited $9.7 million project to bury the electrical and other public utility lines that carry telecommunications along St. Elzéar, between Labelle and Chomedey boulevards.
“This was something that was already in the works during the previous [municipal] administration,” executive committee vice-chairman David de Cotis told The Suburban. “We’re following through.”
“It will require very little maintenance, because everything will henceforth be underground,” he said in an interview. “The ice storm of 1998 is a perfect example. If it were to recur, it would guarantee that people around St. Elzéar would still have electricity.”
Hydro has agreed to contribute nearly $3 million toward the cost of burying its electrical cables and the city will pick up the remaining $6.7 million tab for the project.
Utility poles will remain the standard elsewhere in the city because of the high cost of burying the lines.
“The city will pass this along to ratepayers,” de Cotis explained, adding that to recover this expenditure, the city will pass along it portion of the cost of the cost to the homeowners and developers who own real estate along that stretch of St. Elzéar.
“It’s very expensive and not many developers or homeowners want to go that route, because of the financial burden on them,” he concluded.
