ALTO is not allowed to send its field crews onto United Counties of Prescott and Russell (UCPR) properties.

All eight mayors on the UCPR council voted against a resolution to grant property access to the Crown corporation working on a proposed high-speed passenger rail project to link Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City and points in-between.

The decision to deny ALTO access to UCPR lands for its route survey crews was one of the final items of business during the Wednesday, May 27 UCPR council session. The rejection vote followed after an in-camera discussion of ALTO’s request after the main public portion of the Wednesday council session. The mayors then came out of their closed-door discussion and held a registered vote on the resolution with each mayor declaring no support for ALTO’s request.

The Crown corporation is contacting municipal governments and private property owners throughout Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec, seeking permission to do physical and biological surveys of both public and private lands as part of ALTO’s preliminary work to determine the final route for its high-speed rail line.

The field studies are to take place during spring and summer this year. The results collected would be combined with information that ALTO has gathered about local and regional concerns and issues about the proposed high-speed rail project to help determine the final route. All landholders who allow ALTO access to their properties for field surveys must sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).