Financial compensation equivalent to 50% of the municipal tax bill for 5 years and free access to the Metropolitan Express Network (REM) for the same duration, this is what five petitioners are claiming for compensation for the loss of quality of life due to the work. of the REM in western Île Jésus.
This claim, which would benefit owners whose residence is within an 800-meter radius of the REM work, targets both the Government of Quebec, Ville de Laval and CDPQ Infra, a subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec responsible. planning, financing, construction and operation of this $ 7 billion public transportation infrastructure project.
The petition posted on September 30 on the website of the National Assembly – which will continue until Wednesday, November 24 – had collected 167 signatures as of Monday noon.
Among the considerations in support of this claim, we note, among others, the “gigantic mountains of earth and rocks stored near the residences” with which the neighborhood has had to deal since the spring.
The text of the petition also notes “the dust suspended in the air […] can cause serious health problems such as lung and respiratory damage ”as well as“ noise pollution and odors 24/7, causing sleep disturbances, stress, hearing loss and cardiovascular disease »Generated by the works.
Still according to the petitioners from the Jolibourg district, in Sainte-Dorothée, this work, and the traffic of heavy vehicles that results from it, leads to the closure of pedestrian paths, prevents safe access to schools, daycares and services in the area, makes mobility active dangerous and access to the neighborhood and parks difficult in addition to causing service breakdown without notice, such as access to drinking water, cable and internet.
Finally, the cutting of “many mature trees essential to health” is also mentioned.
It will be recalled that in the spring of 2020, the deforestation in order along Avenue des Bois had given rise to a first petition signed by 640 people, notably asking the Legault government to assess the environmental damage resulting from the mitigation measures to compensate. the impact of the work of the REM.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, ARCHIVES THE PRESS
According to the most recent schedule made public by the REM project office, the complete segment to Deux-Montagnes would be commissioned in the fall of 2024.
Light metro with 26 stations on a 67-kilometer route linking the city center, the airport and the Montreal metropolitan region, the Metropolitan Express Network is the largest public transport project under construction in Quebec from the Montreal metro, inaugurated in 1966.