City of Westmount officials have lost a first-round legal battle to stop partial construction of the Turcot interchange.
Quebec Superior Court Judge Elise Poisson denied the injunction requested by the city against KPH Turcot, the consortium rebuilding the exchange and Transports Québec (MTQ) on May 17.
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Westmount issued a press release on its website indicating its disappointment with the ruling but vowed to continue fighting.
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“While we did not receive the judgment we hoped for at this preliminary stage of the file, legal procedures are ongoing and we still hope to win our case at trial,” a city official wrote in a press release issued May 23.
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Westmount had requested that all work stop along a three-kilometre stretch of the new R-136 (formerly the A720 West) between Glen and Atwater avenues.
The city is concerned about the noise levels that will result along this new stretch of road once the Turcot interchange is complete.
In the release, the city writes, “…the noise level, as it is projected by the MTQ once Route 136 will be completed, will constitute a major source of contamination which will impact the health of our citizens living near the highway. We believe that the MTQ should act now in a context which sees residents being victimized by a modification to the design of Route 136.”
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The new interchange is expected to be finished by 2020. Currently, 300,000 vehicles use the Turcot every day, making it the busiest exchange in Quebec.