New route of the REM de l’Est | “A disaster for our neighborhood”

Residents of eastern Montreal fear the worst for their residences, already struggling with cracks, if the construction site of the Metropolitan Express Network (REM) is moved as planned near Souligny Avenue, in Tétreaultville. If Montreal says it is powerless in the face of this situation, CDPQ Infra ensures that the issue of vibrations will be taken into account.

Henri Ouellette-Vezina
The Press

“The REM is going to be a disaster for our neighborhood. If we don’t act sooner, the government and the City will have to waste money all the time in Tétreaultville,” criticizes Justin Addison, a resident of rue Taillon, who lives very close to where the new route will pass. .

An agreement was announced last week between CDPQ Infra and Canadian National (CN) for the use of part of the railway right-of-way between Souligny and Dubuisson avenues, in Tétreaultville. This means that a four-kilometre aerial portion of the REM de l’Est will be moved and will no longer pass through Sherbrooke Street East, thus ruling out the possibility of a connection with the metro’s green line and the Honoré-Beaugrand station.

Cracks and clay soils

If it relieves the residents of Sherbrooke Street, this change of route worries those of Tétreaultville, where the problems of cracks and the reality of clay soils are already “very worrying”, they say. Several neighbors discovered dozens of cracks in the walls of their buildings. A Facebook page, the Sinistrés de Tétreaultville, was recently set up. According to the City, this phenomenon is mainly attributable to climate change and summer drought, especially for houses based on clay soils that require some maintenance work. But for the citizens, these cracks are also the result of the vibrations generated by the surrounding construction sites, including that of the Cours Bellerive real estate project.

Last fall, and then this winter, citizens commissioned a building structural engineer who confirmed to them that machinery can cause vibration-related damage. This engineer, however, did not wish to comment publicly on the file. “I can tell you that he showed signs of concern. We don’t deny that climate change plays into it, but we think it’s wider, ”says Marc-André Dinelle, who lives on Meese Avenue.

“The risks are there”

MM. Addison and Dinelle say they had their “legs sawed off” when they learned last week that a portion of the REM de l’Est would be moved to their neighborhood, very close to their residences. “If quite modest projects are already bringing their phenomenal share of problems to our buildings, can you imagine what it will be like with the REM? This is major for us. We are already talking about repairs required between $35,000 and $100,000,” insists Mr. Addison. He claims that several hundred homes could be affected by these additional vibrations.

“It’s really worrying,” insists Fanny Beaudry-Potvin, a surveyor by training, who also lives on Meese Avenue. “We may be on deep foundations, the risks are there. We do not understand why the authorities do not act, especially since these problems are not new,” she says.

For Professor Alfred Jaouich, from the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at UQAM, it is obvious that “risks” exist when a construction site like the REM arrives in a context of clay soils. “It can create landslides and all kinds of problematic situations, especially if they put even more weight on the slopes. It will be necessary to carry out geotechnical studies and have the type of clay evaluated, or even their water resistance,” he warns. “You can’t build without evaluating a type of soil, which is unfortunately often the case. I really hope that the nature of the soil will be clearly identified,” adds Mr. Jaouich.

“Legitimate questions”

At CDPQ Infra, the director of public affairs, Virginie Cousineau, says she is aware of the concerns surrounding vibrations, but also the dust and noise that will be generated by the construction site. “Citizens’ questions are legitimate. We will take the time to answer them in the context of the meetings that we will hold soon”, she assures us, stressing “that our projects will be carried out within a strict regulatory framework which is the subject of a government environmental decree” and a review by the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE).

His group says “to be conducting an environmental impact study which will document the quality of the geotechnical soils and which will include the Souligny axis”.

To citizens who fear not being heard, CDPQ Infra assures us that it will listen to them. “The risk of falling into a loophole is very low, if not impossible,” said the spokesperson, who nevertheless specified that, if necessary, compensation mechanisms will be applied to the citizens affected.

The Caquiste deputy for Bourget, Richard Campeau, indicates that he is “aware that there are concerns about vibrations in the privileged sector for this new route”. “I assure you that CDPQ Infra is well aware of the soil issues that we have in Tétreaultville and will pay particular attention to them,” he maintains, reiterating that consultations will take place soon.

” Lack of transparency ”

While in Toronto, a regulation already frames the concept of vibrations surrounding construction sites, Montreal says for its part that it finds itself in a legal vacuum. “The law does not allow us to legislate on vibrations. We cannot regulate. And anyway, we don’t have the resources to do it,” said the mayor of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Pierre Lessard-Blais.

“We understand the very legitimate concerns of citizens. What we are trying to do is to draw a portrait of the cases of cracks and subsidence of the ground, to encourage Quebec to look into it, and to have a broader reflection, ”adds the elected official, who participated in a meeting on the subject recently.

He also denounces the “lack of transparency” of CDPQ Infra.

“The modification of the route was announced to us the day before. It’s kind of their way of working. What we are experiencing in Tétreaultville is another example. We do not feel that the scenarios are shared with the public, while they have a major impact on their lives, ”he laments. “All route and location scenarios must be analyzed, with their impact on people’s quality of life and their costs. And afterwards, if there is a lack on the bill, it will be up to Quebec to extend the money, ”continues the mayor.