2023-11-24 06:23:47
Cones and construction sites still make life difficult for Montrealers. In a study which will be published on Friday, the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM) notes that nearly one in five orange cylinders is still “useless” in the city center, but above all that the blocked arteries are still as numerous as ever.
Published at 1:23 a.m. Updated at 6:00 a.m.
What there is to know
The CCMM affirms that the situation has not really improved since the publication of its study on the presence of construction sites in the city center in January.
Nearly one in five cones is still considered useless.
Several arteries are still periodically blocked, irritating traders and workers.
“There is no real transformation of culture. The results are limited, which means that the perceptions of workers and businesses have not changed,” asserts the president of the CCMM, Michel Leblanc, in an interview with The Press.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
Michel Leblanc, president of the CCMM
In January, his group made an impression by showing in a first study that 94% of city center arteries had been blocked at some point in 2022, and that more than a quarter of the cones were “useless”.
In the process, the City had notably imposed the installation and removal of signage surrounding a construction site 24 hours before the start or following the end of the work, in addition to demobilizing work zones inactive for more than five days, on the sidelines of the Summit on construction sites last spring. Quebec has also removed the cones following 72 hours of inactivity on a construction site and favors metal slides over cones on its construction sites.
“The problem remains”
Since then, the lack of coordination surrounding the projects has persisted, and despite these measures, the problem remains, observes Mr. Leblanc, who nevertheless recognizes that the impact of these measures is not yet fully measurable.
However, 15 of the 45 kilometers of arteries in the hypercenter were still blocked in 2023, i.e. 6.9 kilometers linked to City construction sites and 8.1 kilometers to private construction sites. The proportion of arteries blocked at one time or another remains similar, from 94% to 93% between 2022 and 2023 according to CCMM data. She also deplores that the districts’ access to the AGIR platform, to register all City contracts, will wait until 2028, an “insufficient” deadline in the context.
As for the cones, their number decreased, going from 604 in 2022 to 507 in 2023 in the quadrilateral under study, namely the Sherbrooke, Drummond, Guy and René-Lévesque axes. However, out of 507, 112 were still considered “useless”, which amounts to 22%. Last year, that figure was 27%.
This means that we still have roughly one cone in five in the city center that has no reason to exist. It’s still way too much.
Michel Leblanc, president of the CCMM
Convincing examples
According to CCMM, which represents most major downtown employers, there is no shortage of examples of downtown arteries that continue to be obstructed. On Rue Saint-Urbain, for example, there was only one lane of traffic left at the beginning of November, when snow arrived for the first time of the season. In fact, barriers have been in place on this artery for a decade, according to the CCMM.
The organization gives other scenarios in succession: on Saint-Joseph Boulevard, the eastbound lane was interrupted, while Laurier Avenue was completely closed to traffic and Saint-Laurent Boulevard n has more than one lane of traffic on several sections.
Another issue: deliveries “continue to be tolerated at any time of the day” in the central districts, deplores the Chamber. “This is something that we have often emphasized: the City might easily put deliveries in order, without leaving it haphazard at all hours, especially during peak periods. That doesn’t mean that everything gets done at 2 a.m., but there are ways to clean up,” says Mr. Leblanc.
“Actually, the reality is that people don’t feel like it’s getting better. And in the context where we want to bring people back to the city center as much as possible, the lack of fluidity remains one of the main reasons why they do not come back, precisely,” insists the president.
Positive, but…
At the Société de développement commercial (SDC) Montréal centre-ville, general manager Glenn Castanheira also believes that dissatisfaction persists. “The main source of irritation for users is clearly still the impact of construction sites, and in particular the signage,” he says.
That said, we welcome the fact that the rue Sainte-Catherine site is a good student. They used bollards instead of cones, the site is clean and well contained. We have only received two complaints since the beginning.
Glenn Castanheira, general director of the SDC Montreal downtown
But there are still several dunces, first of all “the REM construction site, on which we have not yet seen any improvement”. “It also still happens that we learn the same day that a street is going to be closed, so it’s not perfect. And I’m not ready to say that the culture has really changed,” explains the manager.
The City of Montreal reiterates that since its Summit on construction sites, “a considerable increase in the compliance of construction sites has been observed”. “Improving construction site management is an ongoing effort that will continue, but we are seeing encouraging results and we are counting on everyone to continue in this direction,” says the mayor’s press secretary, Catherine Cadotte.
According to her, “the work will continue until the quantitative results observed on the ground change the perception of visitors to the city center.”
Learn more
85% This is the proportion of workers judging that travel is not yet fluid in Greater Montreal, according to the CCMM. Of this number, 75% of respondents consider that the city center is the worst area in this area.
CCMM
300 Between January 1 and October 17, 2023, the Mobility Squad carried out more than 300 additional site inspections compared to 2022. In total, 758 inspections were carried out expressly in connection with the City’s new clauses adopted alongside of the Summit on construction sites.
CITY OF MONTREAL
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