A dream for the Francon quarry
The northern part of Montreal was gouged out long ago by two huge quarries. One of them, the Miron quarry, later became the Complexe environnemental de Saint-Michel and Frédéric-Back park. Further east, the Francon quarry, less well known, has functioned as a snow depot, but the coming-and-going of huge trucks and the noise are not pleasant for people living nearby. Some of them have come up with an idea to repurpose the space, although there’s no indication the city is interested yet.
Incidentally, this is not the first time an idea has come along for the Francon quarry. During the Tremblay administration, they considered a plan to put a mega mall in there. Luckily, that never happened.
Bill Binns 15:12 on 2021-01-10 Permalink
A big part of this problem would go away if the city would simply require contractors to get rid of those universally despised reversing beepers. They came out with a far less objectionable yet equally effective noise at least 10 years ago.
I do think that truck beepers running all night is kind of worse case scenario but these complaints remind me a little of people who buy houses near the airport and then complain about airplane noise.
Frankie 13:26 on 2021-01-11 Permalink
I imagine there are lineups of massive dump trucks idling their engines, waiting their turns. And a snow cleanup can take up to a week at a time, so the nearby residents have to put up with the noise, traffic, and pollution caused by the idling engines. The residents pay taxes like everyone else in Montreal and are entitled to a minimum quality of life.
Bill Binns 14:50 on 2021-01-11 Permalink
@Frankie – I don’t disagree. I really believe that NIMBYism makes for better neighborhoods. These folks should be careful what they ask for though. The terrible scourge of gentrification is always waiting in the wings to steal people’s homes right out from under them. Remove the big black industrial smear from your neighborhood and you may be removing the very thing that allowed you to afford to live there in the first place.