The City of Westmount is suing the Ministries of Environment and Transport, contesting their conclusion that noise from the Turcot interchange has not really increased. According to the municipality, the sound level tests were not carried out professionally by the government.
It all starts from a decision sent to the City of Westmount on October 31. The Ministry of the Environment considers that the results transmitted by the Ministry of Transport to prove that the noise level of the interchange has not increased “are based on a large number of hypotheses, 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 people fulfilled their mandate “generally satisfactorily”.
From the start, the Turcot interchange reconstruction project, which was completed in 2020, has been subject to a strict environmental policy.
This includes in particular that in the event of an increase in the noise level, the Ministry of Transport must implement mitigation measures to reduce the noise perceived by local residents. The final decision of the Ministry of the Environment has an impact on the actions that are taken or not.
And according to Westmount, “this inconsistency and lack of rationality between the decision and its reasons, as well as the impossibility of justifying the conclusion with regard to the applicable legal and factual constraints, reveal a manifestly unreasonable decision,” we read in the lawsuit filed last week.
PHOTO HUGO-SEBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Christina Smith, mayor of Westmount
The administration of Mayor Christina Smith, which had first sent a formal notice which was not enough to move the government, is therefore asking the Superior Court to “annul the decision of the Ministry” and to order the latter to make a new one that is more just and equitable.
“Prejudicial” decision
Called to react, the City of Westmount indicated by email that it had “undertaken the appeal, because it considers the Ministry’s decision to be detrimental to its residents”, reserving any further comments on the subject.
As for itself, the Ministry of Transport simply refers us to Decree 890-2010, which affects the project to reconstruct the Turcot complex on the territory of the cities of Montreal, Montreal West and Westmount, recalling that “conditions are provided […], [y compris] the sound environment during operating periods”, without really answering our questions.
“Here is an extract from condition 15: the monitoring measures provided for in the program must be carried out 1 year, 5 years and 10 years after the commissioning of the infrastructure. Considering that the case is pending trial, the Ministry will not comment further on the matter, cautiously indicated the spokesperson, Louis-André Bertrand.
According to Westmount, it is precisely this condition relating to the sound environment which was restricted. It will therefore be up to the Court to determine whether the municipality’s analysis is valid in the coming weeks.
Not a first
This is not the first time that the City of Westmount has raised its voice against the government on the Turcot interchange issue.
In May 2017, the municipality also requested an injunction from the Superior Court so that the Ministry of Transport and the consortium responsible for the construction of the Turcot complex, KPH Turcot, respect the noise level required by government decree in the context of the reconstruction. of the Ville-Marie highway (route 136) running along the south of the municipality, as part of the Turcot project.
“Once Highway 136 [achevée]the sound environment will exceed 65 decibels in several places in Westmount, even reaching more than 70 decibels in certain sectors,” the City then worried and said that it is “a shame to have to resort” to the courts.
The Ministry of Transport then indicated by letter that it did not intend to make changes to the most recent version of the construction plans and that the chosen solution consisted of a noise barrier. .
Quebec also emphasized at that time that “the cost of mitigation measures in the sector could be shared [en] equal shares between the Ministry and the City of Westmount.”
With the collaboration of Louis-Samuel Perron, The Press