Ensemble Montréal asks for a better coordination of construction sites

Ensemble Montréal held a press conference this morning during which it asked the Plante administration for better coordination and communication in the planning of construction sites. With students back in school and workers back on the road after more than two years of telecommuting, it’s harder than ever to get around on Montreal’s arteries.

“We now have an administration of immobility and immobilism. They promised us that we would see improvements this year. If we’re going to have 100 years of construction work like they said, let’s at least work to limit the mess,” said Alan DeSousa, the Official Opposition critic for infrastructure.

Four months after the release of the Auditor General’s report in which she denounced the lack of communication and coordination of the City in the management of construction sites, the Plante administration is still short of solutions. During the election campaign, Projet Montréal committed to launching a Grand Sommet des chantiers within the first six months of a second mandate. However, this event, which was supposed to bring together major contractors, centers of expertise and educational institutions in Montreal in order to facilitate, coordinate and tie together the various construction sites, died on the order paper. This is another broken promise of the Plante administration. 

“I covered traffic for 30 years. I can tell you that I’ve seen it all, but we’ve just reached new heights, even a malaise, and put the fluidity and safety of our roads at risk every day. There is still a lack of coordination, of a global vision and of the will to face this traffic pandemic.  The population is taken hostage. There is no such thing as ‘mobility’ here,” added Rick Leckner, former traffic reporter for CJAD.

The Official Opposition urges the City of Montreal to oblige all boroughs, partners and construction managers to register all upcoming work in a common database. This must be done for both public and private worksites and from the beginning of their design and not at the last minute. 

It should be remembered that the costs associated with road congestion in the metropolitan region are estimated at more than 4.2 billion dollars per year.