The city of Westmount is suing the Departments of Environment and Transportation, challenging their conclusion that noise from the Turcot interchange has not actually increased. According to the municipality, the sound level measurements were not carried out professionally by the government.
Published at 1:16 am. Updated at 7:00 a.m.
It all starts with a decision sent to the city of Westmount on October 31st. The Ministry of the Environment considers that the results submitted by the Ministry of Transport to demonstrate that the noise level of the transport hub has not increased are “based on a variety of hypotheses that are difficult to validate”.
Despite this uncertainty – and the fact that it itself admits that “it is not possible to comment on the acceptability of the results” – the Ministry of the Environment concludes in this decision that the transport commissioners have fulfilled their mandate “largely satisfactory “have fulfilled.
The project to rebuild the Turcot transport hub, completed in 2020, has been subject to a strict environmental policy from the start.
In particular, this means that in the event of an increase in noise levels, the Ministry of Transport must take measures to reduce the noise perceived by residents. The final decision of the Ministry of the Environment will influence what measures will be taken or not.
And according to Westmount, “this inconsistency and lack of rationality between the decision and its reasons, as well as the inability to justify the conclusion in light of the applicable legal and factual limitations, demonstrate a manifestly unreasonable decision,” says the lawsuit filed last week .
PHOTO HUGO-SEBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Westmount Mayor Christina Smith
The administration of Mayor Christina Smith, which initially sent a formal notice that was not enough to move the government, is therefore asking the Supreme Court to “overturn the decision of the department” and order the latter to make a new decision more fair and equitable .
“Biased” decision
Asked to respond, the town of Westmount said via email that it “filed the appeal because it believes the department's decision was harmful to its residents” and reserved further comment on the matter .
The Ministry of Transport itself simply refers to Decree 890-2010, which concerns the project to rebuild the Turcot complex in the territory of the cities of Montreal, Montreal West and Westmount, and recalls that “conditions exist.” […], [y compris] “The sound environment during operating hours” without really answering our questions.
“Here is an excerpt from Condition 15: The monitoring measures provided for in the program must be carried out 1 year, 5 years and 10 years after the infrastructure is put into operation. Given that the case is still before the courts, the ministry will not comment further on the matter, said spokesman Louis-André Bertrand cautiously.
According to Westmount, it is precisely this condition regarding the sound environment that has been restricted. It will therefore be up to the court to decide in the coming weeks whether the municipality's analysis is valid.
Not a premiere
This is not the first time the Town of Westmount has raised its voice against the government on the Turcot Interchange issue.
In May 2017, the municipality also asked the Supreme Court for an injunction to ensure that the Ministry of Transport and the consortium responsible for the construction of the Turcot complex, KPH Turcot, comply with the noise levels required by government decree in connection with the reconstruction. the Ville-Marie motorway (Route 136), which runs to the south of the commune, as part of the Turcot project.
“Once Highway 136 [achevée]“The noise level will exceed 65 decibels in several places in Westmount and even reach more than 70 decibels in certain sectors,” the city then worried, saying it was “a shame to have to resort to the courts.”
The Ministry of Transport then announced in a letter that it did not intend to make any changes to the latest version of the construction plans and that the solution chosen was a noise barrier.
Quebec also stressed at the time that “the costs of mitigation measures in this sector could be shared.” [en] equal shares between the department and the town of Westmount.”
In collaboration with Louis-Samuel Perron, La Presse