Advertising billboards a lucrative alternative to sound walls? Quebec says 'no'

The Quebec government is rejecting a suggestion by a City of Longueuil resident to use advertising billboards to curb noise from Highway 116 to nearby homes.

"There are no plans to use billboard advertising as a replacement for noise barriers, as the two elements have very different objectives," the Quebec Transport Ministry tells CTV News.

Why? Well, for one, it notes, it is a question of safety.

"It is a source of distraction that can adversely affect the safety of road users," says Gilles Payer, a spokesperson for the ministry. "These laws do not allow the installation of a 'wall' of advertising that could serve as a noise barrier."

This comes after Longueuil resident Fatima Souyeb suggested that using billboards to curb sound along Highway 116 could also prove lucrative for the local government.

"I tried to look at this wall in another way," she said at a council meeting on Sept. 19. "I found several European cities that have started considering these walls as long-term investments by using them as advertising billboards."

Souyeb offered a few calculations based on a document she found from the Boucherville Business Association, which rents out solar panels.

She estimates that a single 10-by-30-foot billboard could generate revenues totalling $130,000 annually.

"If we consider our sound wall, which is 1.4 kilometres, and we use 50 per cent as colourful and vibrant billboards, our $25 million wall will be paid off in five years," Souyeb states. "This will be a worthwhile investment for the city in the long-term because this amount of money can be used in the future for other projects."

NOT ABOUT THE MONEY

However, the highway is provincial territory, and the Quebec government says there is no chance of transforming a proposed sound barrier in Longueuil -- or anywhere else -- into a wall of advertising.

The MTQ explains that, in addition to specific provisions of the Highway Safety Code, two primary laws in Quebec govern advertisements: The Act to prohibit advertising along certain thoroughfares and the Act respecting advertising along highways.

The laws stipulate places where billboards are or are not permitted, the maximum dimensions that must be respected and minimum distances between the billboards and roadways.

"Bill P-44 stipulates a minimum distance of 600 metres between two billboards," says Payer.

In addition, the government says there is no proof suggesting that billboards impede noise as well as sound walls.

"Noise barriers installed along roads must have certain acoustic and physical characteristics to be effective and meet design and operating criteria," Payer tells CTV News. "In particular, their materials and assemblies are designed to absorb or reflect sound waves to reduce noise. As you can see, noise barriers are more sophisticated than they appear, and the ministry takes the safety of road users seriously."

NEVERENDING DEBATES

Discussions around extending the already-existing sound wall along Highway 116 in Longueuil were stunted after the city stated the project's rising price tag -- from $16 to $29 million -- meant it could no longer finance it.

Officials had suggested that the 265 residents living near the highway could pay $20,000 in a sectoral tax to help pay for the wall -- something they have stoutly refused to do.

At a city council meeting on Oct. 17, Longueuil Mayor Catherine Fournier confirmed that the city would not proceed with a sectoral tax.

"We have read and heard your concerns, and these are what guided us in our decision," Fournier said, reading a letter sent out to residents.

She adds the city has spoken extensively with the Quebec transport ministry over the last few weeks.

"None of the suggestions [made at the information meeting on Sept. 19] are financially possible at this point in our analysis," Fournier said. "The City of Longueuil has decided not to move forward with the sound wall this fall."

This is similar to what happened in Beaconsfield, where residents were told a sound barrier along the south side of Highway 20 could cost $60 million.

The town would be expected to fork out about a quarter of that amount.

Residents have since come out to oppose the project, saying they're worried their taxes would be raised as a result.

The Beaconsfield sound wall is a project initially proposed by the MTQ that has been in the planning stages for about a decade.

The proposed sound wall in Longueuil is expected to be 1.4 kilometres long and 4.5 metres high.

City officials state the Quebec government has remained steadfast in its offer to finance the project 50-50, but not a penny more.

"The average annual revenue for the city is around $20,000 per [advertising] billboard," Olivier Simard, a spokesperson for the mayor, tells CTV News. "So, the financial potential is minimal compared with the cost of the noise barrier, which amounts to several million dollars."

According to the MTQ, three sound wall projects are currently being studied in the Greater Montreal area in addition to the projects already approved or on hold.

However, it insists it cannot say exactly where they are as "an application does not mean that there will be a wall."

The MTQ argues once a project is approved, it's up to the cities to take the reins.

"It's not up to the ministry to compile a list of cities that may have changed their minds or are waiting for who knows what before starting the project," Payer tells CTV News. "This kind of structure can't be improvised and sometimes takes a long time to build, and it's not just up to the ministry."