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WESTMOUNT INDEPENDENT – May 4-5, 2010 – 9WMA on Turcot: We must reduce our dependence on the carBy the Westmount MunicipalAssociationThe WMA intends to send this letter toPremier Jean Charest, minister of TransportJulie Boulet and MNA Jacques Chagnon asan official communicationfrom the organization.The board of the Westmount MunicipalAssociation (WMA) would like to add itsvoice to the debate regarding what shouldbe done about the Turcot Interchange.We believe that our governments mustdevelop new – and more sustainable –transportation solutions that are appropriatefor our spreading cities, while at thesame time planners should try to containurban sprawl.Automobiles are a major contributor topoor air quality. They often result in terribleinjuries, and dependence on the carleads to obesity. The cost to the health caresystem from car-dependence is enormous,and the benefits that will accrue from encouragingactive transport and mass transitwill make a significant and permanentimpact on our urban quality of life. So wemust take steps to reduce our dependenceon the car.Greater Montreal, like many other agglomerationshas grown very large and extensiveover the past five decades, and thisunsustainable pattern must be stopped ifwe are to halt and reverse the environmentaldegradation it is causing.Maximize mass transitThe board of the WMA believes, likemany others, that the solution to the Turcotinterchange must be to maximize theimplementation of mass transit projects inpatterns that match commuter flows.Now faced with deteriorating structuresin the Turcot Complex, the right approachmust be to develop a concerted, strategicand properly timed plan that will maximizea modal shift from automobile tomass transit. The right approach must include:1. The immediate renovation of the deterioratingand possibly dangerous structureswhich exist at present in the Turcotinterchange. A variety of solutions havebeen proposed to secure the structure.2. Accelerating the construction of thefour major mass-transit projects proposedfor the West Island and inner-city neighbourhoods:shuttle to Dorval airport, improvedcommuter rail service, improvedbus service and the Lachine tram-trainproject. Quebec should also consider prioritizinga Metro link to the west of MontrealWest, serving Côte St. Luc,Hampstead and NDG, residents who arecurrently dramatically underserved bymass transit and must use their car to godowntown.A Turcot, rebuilt to maintain the sameor increased capacity for cars, would be amajor step in the wrong direction, andsuch a regression is not necessary.Our universities have outlined majoropportunities for rethinking the inner cityneighbourhoods immediately beside thehighways targeted in the Turcot project.When spending massive amounts of publicfunds, care should be taken to ensurethey reinforce existing neighbourhoodsand optimize the long-term social and economicreturns, for residents, the boroughs,the demerged municipalities andthe city. The existing neighbourhoodsshould not be separated from one anotherby a large highway.In short, the Turcot project is not just ahighway redevelopment project but an opportunityfor city building. If done properlyand with care, the master plan for thismassive investment could achieve a winwinconsensus among key stakeholders:the McGill University Health Centre, residentsof Côte St. Paul and the Village desTanneries, Westmount, the Sud-Ouest andLachine boroughs, and the Montreal MetropolitanChamber of Commerce, to namebut a few.There are economic benefits that wouldaccrue from an approach that favoursmass transit over an automobile-orientedinfrastructure. For example, we learn froma recent Montreal Metropolitan Chamberof Commerce study that the expendituresof public transit authorities stimulate theMontreal-area economy twice as much asequivalent expenditures for private transportby car, since more than 50 percent ofthe expenditures for private transport arefor products imported to Quebec, comparedto 10 percent in the case of publictransport.Quebec must investWe believe that the Quebec governmentmust put in money, on par withother Canadian cities, to help municipalitieswith public transport. Quebec allocatesmuch less per person to mass transitcompared to other provinces. In 2007,Quebec paid $40 per person, comparedwith $150 per person in British Columbia,$105 per person in Ontario and $60 perperson in Alberta. Quebec should be leadingin public transit investment, not trailingbehind other provinces, especiallygiven our world class industrial leadershipon providing mass transit infrastructure.In summary, the board of the WMAstrongly supports the use of mass transitfor Montreal, its boroughs and the demergedmunicipalities. While we are aWestmount association and thereforeworry about the effects of the Turcot projecton our community, we join with otherson the island of Montreal to strongly urgeEmily Schwartzmanyou to make the Turcot interchange an exampleof how Quebec is at the forefront inthe fight to save our environment, thusproviding a safe and healthy place for itscitizens to live.Think twice about playing Trivial Pursuitwith Emily SchwartzmanPhoto: Katie FellerathValue ContrarianWestmount resident Emily Schwartzman,a grade 7 student at the TrafalgarSchool for Girls, won the Canadian StudentAchievement League’s annualscholastic competition – a contest thattests trivia knowledge and problem-solvingskills. Though the school has had twoprovincial champions in recent years,Schwartzman is the first Trafalgar and firstQuebec student to win the national championship.The test, which is aimed at grade8 students, was held online in February.Students had 60 minutes to answer 100questions and Schwartzman answered 91correctly.