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9/24/2025
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has received the official application for developing the Lac-Megantic rail bypass, moving the long-awaited project a step closer to construction, federal Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon announced last week.
The application includes environmental studies, consultation reports, as well as a well monitoring plan. The documents will be made available online as part of the public consultation process, which will be launched shortly, according to a Transport Canada press release.
Construction of the bypass will begin once all regulatory approvals have been obtained, including from the CTA.
When completed, the 8-mile bypass will route railroad traffic away from downtown Lac-Megantic, Quebec, where a train derailment in 2013 led to the deaths of 47 people and destroyed the city's downtown area. The derailment also caused 1.6 million gallons of crude oil to spill and forced 2,000 to be evacuated from their homes.