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Sheer scale of projects means more noise, traffic
DAVID JOHNSTON
The Gazette
Saturday, February 16, 2008
A lot of people who live in the suburbs west of Montreal Island have mixed feelings about the Canadian Pacific Railway's proposed intermodal freight terminal in Les Cèdres.
On the one hand, they know that the substantial new industrial and commercial development in the region, pegged to the eventual completion of the Highway 30 ring road, will help keep local residential property taxes low.
On the other hand, the sheer scale of some of the industrial investment emerging in Vaudreuil-Soulanges county will mean a lot more noise and traffic congestion for residents.
"We're an agricultural area that is in the process of being industrialized," said Pierre Kary, a resident of St. Lazare.
"If we were talking about pharmaceutical companies coming in, that would be one thing. But we're talking about trains and trucks. It's not what people expected when they decided to move into this area."
The proposed CPR terminal, if approved, will sit on 330 hectares of land, or 815 acres, in Les Cèdres. More precisely, it will sit a little bit north of Exit 26 off of Highway 20, which in turn is just west of where Highway 30, when completed, will hook up with the existing Highways 20 and 540 interchange. With up to 5,000 trucks a day expected to hook into the rail terminal, residents have concerns about noise and perpetual bright night lighting, as well as traffic congestion.
In meetings with residents over the past year, CPR officials have explained their project calls for their own dedicated truck road linking Highway 20 and the proposed intermodal terminal. And they have said they plan to plant trees and other noise-absorbing vegetation to help create a sound buffer.
Still, said Kary, CPR has told residents that the average noise level emanating from the terminal would be 45 decibels for residents living closest to the terminal, or about 500 metres away.
"That's like a loud conversation in your kitchen," he said.
Although the proposed CPR site is in Les Cèdres, most people who live in the town actually live south of Highway 20. The terminal would be built north of the 20, within a half-kilometre of the nearest residential neighbourhood, which is in St. Lazare.
Residents in this neighbourhood already have complaints about noise vibration in their homes resulting from trains running along the existing CPR line into the company's Lachine intermodal facility, which CPR wants to close in favour of the proposed Les Cèdres terminal.
At an information meeting last fall, St. Lazare resident Tracy Robinson said the vibration is so bad she has had to put felt on the back of some of her wood furniture, so the wood doesn't dent her walls.
In response to her concerns, CPR officials explained that if Les Cèdres terminal gets built, freight trains will have to slow down as they arrive into the area, thus reducing vibrations.
St. Lazare Mayor Paul Carzoli said there are "a lot of false rumours flying around" about the CPR project. But he said there is no doubt that Highway 30, when completed and connected up to the existing Highways 20 and 540 interchange, will mean a lot more traffic congestion in the suburbs west of Montreal Island.
"That's the one thing that isn't a false rumour," he said.