WATCH ABOVE: A debate has sparked in Westmount over a barrier that may be set up to cut the noise between the Ville-Marie expressway and residential homes. Global’s Tim Sargeant reports.
WESTMOUNT — Residents on Prospect Street say a new sound barrier is needed to cut the traffic noise emanating from the Ville-Marie expressway and the trains from the CP railroad tracks.
A feasibility study was recently made public to the residents but it’s vague on details according to some.
Frank Candido has been living on the street for 17 years and has been requesting a noise barrier almost ever since. He’s happy a feasibility study has been done but wants assurances a future buffer will be a landscaped berm and not a concrete wall.
“Maybe a stone wall feature or garden. Planting new trees, etc. That would be very green,” Candido told Global News.
Others living west of Greene Avenue want no such barrier. Some of the homes were built directly adjacent to the tracks and a large wall could cause more problems than resolve.
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“I wouldn’t want to lose the light, air and view. So I moved here knowing the sights and sounds were there so I don’t think we should do it quite frankly,” Geoff Harling told Global News.
The city councillor representing the district has to balance competing interests.
Theodora Samiotis says a noise barrier could be built in place of part of the A-720 when sections of it are levelled to make way for a new Turcot interchange.
“We’ve met with the MTQ. We have agreement in place for a feasibility study and we have feedback from residents so I have to bring all that back to council,” she told Global News.
Costs of a new sound barrier are estimated at $6.4 Million and would be shared between the city and Transports Quebec.
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