NDG merchant files request for class action lawsuit over Turcot construction

Frank Berdahsays business has dropped by as much as 60 per centsince the construction of the new Turcot Interchange started and he thinks the government should compensate him, and other Montrealers, for damages.

The owner of Decors Ora, an upholstery family business on St-Jacques Street, has launched a request for a class action lawsuit.

"All the pounding, the machines, the pylons on the street...we have lost at least 50 to 60 per cent of our business," said Berdah, the owner of Decors Ora, an upholstery business on St-Jacques Street between Girouard Avenue and Addington Street.

Berdah said that since work started on the Turcot Interchange two years ago, his clients can no longer park nearby on the street.

• Turcot Interchange as seen from above
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"They need to walk 300 to 400 metres just to get to the storefront," he told CBC Radio's Homerun, adding that since most of his clients have to drop off or pick up furniture, many have stopped coming to his store altogether.

Berdah is also having trouble attracting new clients because the storefront on St-Jacques Street is blocked by a barrier on the street.

"We used to have thousands of cars that would go along St-Jacques and would see us. Now, the front is completely closed so nobody can see us."

With work slated to go on until 2020, Berdah is worried his family business, which he took over from his father five years ago, won't last that long.

"I'm trying to survive and trying to keep my father's legacy alive but it's not working out very well."

Since Berdah launched the class action authorization, the phones have not stopped ringing at Ticket Legal Inc., the law firm filing the legal documents.

If approved, the lawsuit would seek to compensate "all those businesses and individuals affected by the Turcot Interchange noise, dust, pollution and nuisances," said Joey Zukran, a lawyer at Ticket Legal Inc., whichfiledthe class action request on Berdah's behalf.

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"The conclusions being sought are financial compensation, damages and for the noise to be reduced within the legal level," Zukran said.