Until last April, I anticipated the commissioning of the REM with some impatience, like most Montrealers. I knew it would pass over the elevated lane crossing the Lachine Canal at Wellington Bridge, about 300 meters from the building where my husband and I purchased a condo in July 2021.
Until then, we congratulated ourselves almost every day that we had found an apartment with a central yet peaceful location. Griffintown, it’s well known, is a very urban neighborhood where construction projects are numerous. On the other hand, the shores of the Lachine Canal offer a unique environment appreciated by both the people who live there and the multitude of walkers and sports enthusiasts who enjoy this magnificent federal park every day.
It was therefore with amazement that my husband and I reacted to the REM tests which began in April.
The noise produced by the friction of the wheels on the metal rails is such that it resembles that of an airplane taking off.
How can you imagine that the thousands of residents of the neighborhood will have to suffer this incredible noise pollution from 5:30 a.m. until 1:30 a.m., every day, every 2 or 3 minutes during peak hours and every 5 minutes the rest of the day, in each direction? The level of noise pollution and its frequency already greatly affect the quality of life of residents in our neighborhood. It’s hard to enjoy our balconies overlooking the canal. We are woken up from the first passages of the REM despite the earplugs that we must now use to sleep, even if the frequency of passages is less during this period of tests.
The REM authorities have received a large number of complaints. They replied that they were doing further sound testing to determine if any noise abatement measures needed to be put in place in our neighborhood.
A call to elected officials
It is easy to imagine that the administrators of this expensive project want to avoid incurring new expenses if they can. This is why it is imperative that elected officials, both provincial and municipal, take up the defense of residents who see their quality of life seriously threatened. We must also ask the managers of the Caisse de depot et placement how it is possible that a project generating such noise pollution was deemed acceptable when environmental protection is supposed to be a priority and the City of Montreal wants make the center a pleasant place to live to avoid urban sprawl.
We should also know why the decision to abandon the planned tunnel under the Lachine Canal to replace it with an elevated track was not the subject of public consultations.
Unfortunately, the time is no longer for consultations since we are faced with a fait accompli, but the REM administrators must act in the face of complaints from local residents and take the necessary measures to considerably reduce the noise generated by these cars, which seem obsolete before even their commissioning.
To say that as early as 1966, Montrealers could boast of having one of the quietest subways in the world and that by 2023 we are going to have cars noisier than the old CN diesel trains that cross the canal a few times a day: this is simply unacceptable!
To those who are calling for the extension of the REM, I issue a warning: make sure that the planned route will not ruin your quality of daily life!