Advertising billboards a lucrative alternative to sound walls? Quebec says 'no'
CTV
The Quebec government is rejecting a suggestion by a City of Longueuil resident to use advertising billboards to curb noise from Highway 116 to nearby homes.
The Quebec government is rejecting a suggestion by a City of Longueuil resident to use advertising billboards to curb noise from Highway 116 to nearby homes.
"There are no plans to use billboard advertising as a replacement for noise barriers, as the two elements have very different objectives," the Quebec Transport Ministry tells CTV News.
Why? Well, for one, it notes, it is a question of safety.
"It is a source of distraction that can adversely affect the safety of road users," says Gilles Payer, a spokesperson for the ministry. "These laws do not allow the installation of a 'wall' of advertising that could serve as a noise barrier."
This comes after Longueuil resident Fatima Souyeb suggested that using billboards to curb sound along Highway 116 could also prove lucrative for the local government.
"I tried to look at this wall in another way," she said at a council meeting on Sept. 19. "I found several European cities that have started considering these walls as long-term investments by using them as advertising billboards."
Souyeb offered a few calculations based on a document she found from the Boucherville Business Association, which rents out solar panels.
