West Island cities along Highway 20 will be watching to see whether Beaconsfield can convince Quebec to pay the entire bill based on health issues.

It’s not often that a municipality will pass up a grant opportunity worth around $45 million. But Beaconsfield has done such thing — for now, pending some seriously uphill lobbying yet to unfold.

The city recently announced a survey had indicated too many residents are opposed to a noise barrier project as proposed by Transport Quebec, primarily because of its excessive costs. Beaconsfield has what had been described as a sweetheart deal on the table, with the province agreeing to split the bill 75-25, instead of the 50-50 standard cost-sharing formula.

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Beaconsfield, with about 20,100 residents and an operating budget of around $53 million in 2022, was challenged to gain city-wide support for a project in the $60-million range, even if the province was willing to pay 75 per cent of it.

The proposed sound wall would stretch five kilometres from Devon Rd. to Jasper Rd. along the south side of Highway 20. A major sticking point is that residents living north of Highway 20, and who wouldn’t benefit from the sound wall, strongly opposed funding the project.

Meanwhile, local advocate Michel Rheault says the sound wall is a community health issue and not a money issue.

Mayor Georges Bourelle is requesting the province pay 100 per cent of the bill if warranted, based on health issues, and is seeking clarification from both the transport and health ministries.

While Transport Quebec has maintained that the project was intended only to improve the quality of life for residents living close to the highway corridor on the south side, public health expert Dr. David Kaiser said the health of citizens living within 150 metres of the highway is compromised by the noise, causing stress, sleep loss and cardiac problems.

“We need to know whether there is a health issue for our citizens living close to Highway 20, as stated by Dr. Kaiser,” Bourelle said.

It might seem like a desperate gesture to salvage the sound wall project, but the province has in the past come through for Beaconsfield based on risk factors.

A Parti Québécois government approved funding the construction of Highway 20 interchanges near Woodland Ave. in Beaconsfield and Morgan St. in Baie-D’Urfé, replacing intersections governed by traffic lights that had led to several deadly crashes over the years.

Persistent lobbing by citizens, municipal officials and opposition Liberal MNAs convinced the PQ government to fund a project in the West Island enclave by highlighting the dangerous highway lights.

Sound wall advocates have noted that the speed limit on this stretch of Highway 20 jumped to 100 km/h from 70 km/h once the interchanges opened in late 1998.

Other West Island cities along Highway 20, who still face a 50-50 payment split for a sound wall project, will be watching to see whether Beaconsfield can convince Quebec to pay the entire bill.

In February, Pointe-Claire council tabled a resolution to launch negotiations with Transport Quebec for a potential noise barrier project on the south side of Highway 20 from St-Jean Blvd. to Sources Blvd. In 2016, Pointe-Claire demanded a study and stated the city would be willing to pay 25 per cent of the costs of a sound wall. Based on its vast commercial and industrial tax base, Pointe-Claire would have an easier time than Beaconsfield to absorb a 75-25 split, but it could surely jump on board a health issue funding approach being sought by its neighbour.

Albert Kramberger is editor of the Montreal Gazette’s West Island/Off-Island section.

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