We expected a catastrophe on the highways and bridges between the South Shore and Montreal, but it was ultimately in the local streets that the closure of one of the two tubes of the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel was heavily felt. . In the past year, the number of motorists and accidents has increased in several residential neighborhoods around the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, to the great dismay of residents, who are demanding that Quebec and Montreal do more for their safety.
Mélina Dorléans may live miles from the construction site, but she is nevertheless well placed to feel its impacts in the streets of her neighborhood. She actually lives near the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, to which many motorists have turned since one of the two tubes was closed to traffic.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Mélina Dorléans, resident of the Centre-Sud district
“It got worse with the tunnel work and, simultaneously, with the return of people to work in person. There is really an overuse of individual cars in our neighborhood, with more stress behind the wheel, more rage. It’s simply too much,” laments the Centre-Sud resident.
Several observers expected traffic jams on highways 20 and 25 to increase with the repair of the tunnel, but it was in the surrounding neighborhoods that the impact was most felt.
PHOTO PASCAL RATTHÉ, ARCHIVES SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Cars idling on avenue De Lorimier last April
“There are far too many cars on local streets and neighborhoods, and this has become even more true over the past year. We really need to control access to the city and, at the same time, the size of vehicles,” reasons Catherine Morency, holder of the Mobility Chair at Polytechnique Montréal.
Increase in through traffic
Several citizens like Mélina Dorléans have observed an increase in through traffic at the exit of the Jacques-Cartier Bridge since last year. For the Montrealer, it is above all the lack of options in terms of public transport which has allowed the situation to worsen. “To come from the South Shore to the Center-South, most people still prefer to come by car. We end up with way too many vehicles. There’s no more room on the road to add more, actually,” she explains.
Chris McCray, a resident who co-founded the Collective Appeasement for Sainte-Marie with neighbors, also agrees. “From the start of the bridge-tunnel project, it was clear that the Ministry of Transport was not taking into account the local impacts around the Jacques-Cartier Bridge. We quickly saw that it was very chaotic and it still is in many ways, despite the City’s measures,” he said.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Chris McCray, resident of the Centre-Sud district who co-founded the Collective Appeasement for Sainte-Marie
Almost all streets are still used as shortcuts. And on major arteries, like Sherbrooke, Papineau or De Lorimier, we come up against highway developments. There is still a lot of work to do.
Chris McCray, resident of the Centre-Sud district who co-founded the Collective Appeasement for Sainte-Marie
Also involved in securing the arteries, Carl St-Denis second. “Many residents are angry at the pedestrian deaths that are accumulating around the Jacques-Cartier Bridge without these urban highways seeing even transitional arrangements being put in place where the dangers are nevertheless well documented” , he denounces.
Accidents: an increasing trend
In the period of almost six months following the start of work on the La Fontaine tunnel, the number of accidents increased by 8% in the Centre-Sud district, where the head of the Jacques-Cartier bridge is located. Across the island of Montreal, however, the number of accidents has declined slightly (-1%).
In fact, since October 2022, the Montreal Police Service (SPVM) says it has recorded three fatal collisions in the area and six others with serious injuries. This is more than the previous year, when the police force had only two fatal collisions and four with serious injuries.
In December 2022, the Centre-Sud district was particularly shaken following the death of young Mariia Legenkivska on the way to school. A vast citizen mobilization followed.
A problem, measures
To try to stem the flow of cars, the Ville-Marie district has already announced some traffic calming measures since April. In addition to around a hundred permanent speed bumps installed, certain arteries such as rue Larivière have been closed to traffic. Streets have also been the subject of “rearrangements”, with the addition of sidewalk projections, while others have had their direction reversed.
The hours of certain reserved lanes have also been revised. Sections have also been extended, such as rue Sherbrooke, while others are under construction, including avenue De Lorimier.
“We have focused on the René-Lévesque axis to optimize east-west capacity and distribute traffic towards the South Shore on the Victoria, Samuel-De Champlain and Mercier bridges, especially in anticipation of possible or catastrophic closures of the Ville-Marie highway”, illustrates the press secretary in the office of the mayor of Montreal Catherine Cadotte.
She specifies that certain traffic lights, especially in sensitive sectors, “have been optimized and continue to be optimized by means of modifications on the ground as necessary”. The north-south Papineau and De Lorimier links have finally been reviewed to “maximize traffic to and from the Jacques-Cartier Bridge”.
From the start of the mega project, Montreal also had the government demand to put in place “specific reduction measures” near employment centers, such as hospitals. The Ministry of Transport did not wish to answer our questions on this subject, simply indicating that an assessment of activities around the La Fontaine tunnel will be made by the end of October.
Lack of planning
Catherine Morency also has difficulty explaining that, as in most major road projects, the major work in the La Fontaine tunnel was not planned in such a way as to foresee the impacts on adjacent neighborhoods.
It seems that when we discuss major infrastructure, the government has the impression that we can isolate the major corridors, but no, they always inject themselves into the local network. We never really take that into account.
Catherine Morency, holder of the Mobility Chair at Polytechnique Montréal
The situation is such that a group of residents has just launched a petition to reinstate a toll system on the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, which was abandoned in the 1960s. Traffic around the infrastructure “has become chaotic” , worry citizens.
PHOTO PASCAL RATTHÉ, ARCHIVES SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Traffic on Boulevard de Maisonneuve, in the Jacques-Cartier Bridge area, last April
However, no discussions took place on this subject with Ottawa, confirms the spokesperson for the Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges, Nathalie Lessard. To date, the bridge welcomes between 2.6 and 2.7 million motorists monthly, a figure which nevertheless remains stable from month to month.
“The fear we had at the time about increased congestion has not necessarily materialized, at least not completely. There are certainly times when the bridge is very busy, especially when there are significant obstacles in the tunnel or elsewhere, but this is nothing abnormal for us,” says M.me Lessard.