Public health experts are raising questions about the air quality in neighbourhoods near the Turcot Interchange project - and not receiving many answers.

Air quality tests have not been disclosed since the major work started last year. Data from May and June on the quality of the air around the construction site will only be made public at the end of this week, a transport ministry spokesperson has confirmed.

“All the sampling stations operating in Montreal, you get results every 15 minutes. Why would these sampling stations owned by the MTQ but operated by the City of Montreal prevent people from knowing what they're breathing,” said environmentalist Daniel Green.

The transport ministry needs to be more transparent, said Joseph Zayed, a public health expert at Universite de Montreal.

“When you obtain results you have to make public these results,” he said. “The residents have the right to know to what level they are exposed, and if there is any risk to these levels, and what they have to do to reduce the exposure and the risk.”

Southwest borough councillor Craig Sauvé said it’s a concern for local residents.

“More and more citizens have come to us on Facebook, Twitter, on the street, in the café saying this worries me my kids have developed coughs I've developed coughs,” he said.

Some answers have come in a report released by Montreal public health, which says the dust caused the air quality to surpass normal levels frequently since January.

The report stated that this can cause allergy-like symptoms, but will not cause long-term health issues.

Many unanswered questions remain.

“The minimum is to know what is the level they obtained, how many times they obtained where they obtained the highest concentration,” said Zayed.

Many are upset not only with the health risks involved, but with the city's delay in making the information public.

The city claims there was never a risk to the public.

“It's important as well that the city be as transparent as possible, release the information right away and if its raw data, I’m sure the scientists can handle that,” said Sauvé.

The transport ministry said they will be able to post air quality updates daily by the end of the fall.