Access to the land where Northvolt will build its mega-factory on the South Shore of Montreal is currently “inadequate” and “unsafe” for the volume of traffic that the construction of the complex will generate. Result: Quebec extends 22.5 million for a “temporary access road”.

It is Saint-Basile-le-Grand which will receive the money to carry out the work, according to a recent government decree. The grant will be spread over three years.

The young Swedish company must settle on the former site of the Canadian Industries Limited (CIL) explosives factory, which straddles the municipalities of Saint-Basile-le-Grand and McMasterville. The land is 170 hectares in size – approximately 130 football fields.

“Due to the high traffic […], access to this site is practically inadequate and unsafe for the estimated traffic volumes that the construction of the factories will generate,” we can read in the document.

The Northvolt complex – where battery cells will be produced in particular – the last step before battery assembly – will be close to a railway line belonging to the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) as well as Route 116.

At the time of writing these lines, it had not been possible to contact the mayor of Saint-Basile-le-Grand, Yves Lessard. The Northvolt project is expected to cost $7 billion. Quebec and Ottawa will finance construction to the tune of 3 billion in addition to agreeing to a production subsidy of up to 4.6 billion.