A30 service road: citizens considering a class action

Tired of the authorities’ inaction regarding the repair of the service road along Highway 30, citizens who have suffered an accident on this road are trying to organize a class action against the municipality.

Translation Amanda Bennett

“On the morning of October 5th, I damaged my vehicle on this service road, there were two large potholes one in front of the other which broke my rims caused my two right tires to burst and. I have to pay $4,000 worth of damage if I want to change everything,” Josée Laroche, a resident of Sainte-Martine, told Le Soleil.

During this incident, she met a citizen who also had the misfortune to break the rims of his SUV in the same place, three days earlier. He suggested the notion of launching a class action lawsuit against the City of Châteauguay.

“After that conversation, I decided to post a message on social networks in order to collect other testimonies to launch a class action. I have seven people who have written to me to tell me that they have experienced the same thing as me in recent weeks,” said Laroche.

Taking action

The Saint-Martine resident says she has already put together a file for the eventual class action suit. “I have taken several photos of the holes and the damage to my car—I have measured the dimensions of a dozen potholes and I have listed the contact information of people interested in participating in the procedures. One of the craters Laroche measured was eight inches deep.

She says it’s time for the city to finally take responsibility and fix this ‘broken’ road as soon as possible to avoid further problems for motorists.

Accident prone

Robert Gervais, owner of Réparations Robert Gervais in Mercier, says he sometimes has to tow two to three vehicles a day on the service road.

‘The tires blow out because the holes are too big! This has been going on for years. The lack of maintenance and the numerous truck trips have completely degraded the roadway,’ he said.

Mr. Gervais stated that he is not the only towing company to go to this location. Other companies from Châteauguay, Mercier and even Saint-Constant, often come to help out motorists who are caught in potholes.

According to him, what is unfortunate, ‘is that the City is absolving itself of any responsibility when citizens have problems on this road. People try to make complaints, but nothing happens, the city doesn’t want to know, that’s what’s shocking.

Work in 2023

The City of Châteauguay’s public works division is doing some patching on the service road along Highway 30 between Industriel and Sainte-Marguerite boulevards.

“However, the City of Châteauguay does not plan to move up the major repair work scheduled for 2023, since this work must be carried out as part of the development of new land in the industrial park,” said Christine Arsenault, communications advisor for the City of Châteauguay. According to her, the municipality is well aware that “the roadway is in a state of major deterioration and has practically reached the end of its life.

However, the city insists that the service road belongs to the Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ). Arsenault said council will soon adopt a resolution asking the MTQ to make repairs as soon as possible.

When questioned by the Journal in April 2022, the MTQ replied that the road along Highway 30 belonged to the City of Châteauguay.