Many Montrealers find the construction on the Turcot Interchange noisy – but all that racket extends a lot further than one might think.
A group of homeowners 40 kilometres away in Varennes have fought back against the clatter, as every day, hundreds of trucks pass by their homes on Butte-aux-Renards Rd.
The trucks are collecting asphalt and stones at a nearby quarry; the materials all bound for Montreal.
After enduring an average 40,000 trucks a month, Jeffrey Kuhn and his neighbours had enough.
“It's a constant nagging – constant. It doesn't let down. The rough estimate is a truck every 57 seconds,” he said.
“During the peak, like from April to November, we had days with 1,300 trucks,” added resident Richard Duff.
Unable to live with the constant noise, they hired a lawyer and made a successful bid in court.
A judge granted a temporary injunction against the companies building the Turcot, ordering them to limit the number of trucks.
The temporary injunction means trucks and not allowed to circulate on weekends or after 5:30 p.m. during the week.
“We're quite pleased with the result,” said Varennes director general Sebastien Roy.
The city of Varennes said it had tried to build a new road to the quarry to bypass the homes altogether, but it was rejected by the Quebec government.
The city will try again now that residents have obtained an injunction.
“If we obtain this authorization there will be no more trucks passing in front of the houses,” said Roy.
Transport Quebec and the consortium behind the project, KPH-Turcot consortium, refused to comment on the matter, saying they're still looking at the ruling. They would not say if the injunction will cause delays.
