Hampstead, CSL raise concerns about Hydro-Québec work

Concerns were raised, for different reasons, by the Mayors of Hampstead and Côte St. Luc at their respective Sept. 29 council meetings regarding Hydro-Québec’s electrical system upgrade work, including the construction of a new substation in CSL as part of the Aqueduc-Saraguay project.

Hampstead Mayor Jeremy Levi told his meeting that “recent events have had a significant impact on our community, and it is important to clarify the town’s position and the steps we are taking on behalf of our residents.” The incident was a power disruption on Sept. 23 during the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.

He also advised residents to contact Hydro in case of service interruptions.

Levi added that, “following repeated requests for stronger collaboration, the administration met with Hydro-Québec’s Director of Community Relations. During this meeting, Hydro confirmed that further planned interruptions will be necessary as more than 100 electrical posts are upgraded, and that preparations have begun for the modernization of the CSL substation, a significant investment that should ultimately improve reliability for our community.”

The Mayor said that while the energy demands of 2025 require major infrastructure improvements that result in large projects and some electrical interruptions, “what remains unacceptable is a lack of accurate and timely information that too often leaves our residents without the clarity they deserve.

“This is why we welcome Hydro-Québec’s renewed openness to work with the town and in particular, their commitment to ensuring that no planned interruptions will occur during the most important religious holidays of our community.”

Levi vowed that Hampstead will “continue to press Hydro- Québec to strengthen communication, to acknowledge the effect of repeated outages, and to uphold their pledge to respect the needs of our community. Our priority remains clear — transparency, accountability and respect for our residents. We will not relent in ensuring that these principles guide every step of this process.”

At the CSL meeting, Mayor Mitchell Brownstein said his city has had issues with the Hydro project, which is being conducted near Mount Sinai Hospital in the Heywood Road-Cavendish Blvd. area. Because of the work, westbound lanes are closed between Cavendish and Kellert Avenue from this past Sept. 22 to mid-December. The city website also said a planned lane reduction on southbound Cavendish was delayed.

Brownstein said that he refused Hydro’s request to close lanes on Heywood and Cavendish at the same time.

“First we announced [the Cavendish lane closure] was happening, but then when I saw what was going on on Heywood, I said ‘no, you’re not getting the permit.’ When you finish Heywood and open it up, then we’ll give you some lane closures to work on Cavendish.’ Heywood is a mess, people are backed up. We’ll have to figure out what to do. We’re going to have to have flagmen or people helping with traffic at Kildare and Cavendish,” which is parallel to Heywood. Brownstein said CSL could assist at Kildare and Cavendish, but Hydro is responsible and must provide supervision with the help of the SPVM and the city.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to improve the situation and we will not issue any permits for anything else until that project is complete, which is going to be a while. They say the work on Heywood is going to take until December.”