Westmount to weigh sound wall's merits over next two years

The City expects to take that long in order to carefully evaluate the performance of an experimental sound barrier section currently in place in lower Westmount.

According to Mayor Karin Marks, the results of tests conducted by sound technicians on the effectiveness of the glass and steel-frame wall erected last summer at the foot of Abbott Avenue confirmed that the wall appears to be doing the job for which it was created.

However, as it is only an experimental prototype, the barrier has proven to have some limitations.

"Since it is not continuous — it's only one block — there's some sound that comes around the ends," Marks told the Examiner.

"We need to have a couple of years to look," she added, citing such issues as maintenance costs, how frequently it is vandalized with 'scraffiti' and 'graffiti,' and how it stands up to our winters.

"Is it going to become cloudy after a short period of time?” Marks asked. “They tell us it will not.”

Besides the wall's effectiveness, Marks said the cost of a permanent sound barrier is an issue with which the City will eventually have to deal. "Council has to look at all of the spending priorities for the City and say, 'Okay, how do we plan these in order to maintain a tax rate that is a reasonable one that people can afford,” she said. “We have a number of priorities we have to be looking at, and a number of costs.”

The 30-metre sound barrier, mounted on concrete pillars, was installed next to the CP Rail tracks and the Ville Marie Expressway at a cost of $350,000. Sound tests of its effectiveness started shortly after the wall's completion. The field work was followed up with computer simulations using gathered data.

Many more millions of dollars could eventually be spent completing a permanent sound barrier extending the length of the expressway and the rail line in Westmount. The City hopes to finance the project with the help of federal and provincial subsidies.