The Turcot Interchange is crumbling, but rebuilding it would mean displacing 130 of the nearby St. Rémi street residents. This is a major concern for many active groups in the community, including Centre Communautaire des Femmes Actives.
“They’re talking about demolishing houses... people have lived there for thirty – forty years. And it’s going to take ten or fifteen years to finish the job – that’s an entire life time for a child. For a child growing up in around here he’s going to spend his life inhaling all the dust and whatever from the construction,” Alice Robertson said.
It’s not just a question of environmental concerns during the project. Vehicle volume is expected to increase from 290,000 to 300,000[i] cars per day; destroying Quebec’s plan to decrease carbon emissions by 20% by the year 2020.
The decision hasn’t been finalized but residents are up in arms. The city wants a brand new interchange, but isn’t willing to spend more money on the dislocated citizens than the allotted $3 billion for construction.[ii]
“The people living on St Rémi are fighting this because they aren’t being paid to move. They aren’t getting anything – the city is throwing in the towel and saying we can find you an apartment, but that’s it,” Caroline Duplessis said.
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[i] Walking Turcot Yards - http://neath.wordpress.com/
[ii] Global Montreal - http://www.globalmontreal.com/story.html?id=3801312
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