Construction sites in Montreal in 2024 | The City promises far fewer “superfluous cones”

Despite a busy 2024 in construction, the number of unnecessary cones should considerably decrease next year, says Montreal, which estimates that the measures taken this spring to mitigate the impacts of construction sites should begin to be felt this spring.

“The majority of our contracts were already awarded with our old standards in 2023. There, in 2024, we should see a change in the size of the markers, in particular,” explained the director of the Road Network Infrastructure Service on Tuesday, Nathalie Martel, before the Finance Commission.

Since the Construction Site Summit in March, Montreal has been authorized by the Ministry of Transport to replace its cones with smaller bollards or other less disruptive elements. The City also now requires the removal of signage 24 hours before and after a construction site, in addition to demobilizing work zones inactive for more than five days.

However, this year, barely one contractor agreed to change their cones for smaller bollards, on the Sainte-Catherine Street West site. “For companies, sourcing bollards still takes a certain amount of time and we understand that,” said M.^me Martel.

In total, 758 inspections were carried out in relation to these new clauses and 87% of sites were compliant. Some 99 reports were issued to construction sites that did not comply with these new regulatory tightenings.

Quebec now also collects cones after 72 hours of inactivity on a construction site. From December, the government will install “metal barriers” rather than cones on its construction sites. When everything is in place, “superfluous cones” should “significantly” decrease around construction sites, says M^me Martel.

Other measures are coming soon, says the City. “We hope with the ministry, by the end of the year, to have another small victory, that is to say to reduce the length of the bevels in urban areas, therefore the length of the transition zone which indicates hinders it. […] The ministry should announce this change soon,” continued M.^me Martel on this subject.

Still several challenges

In the immediate future, however, the situation does not change. Last Thursday, the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM) revealed that nearly one orange cone in five is still “useless” in the city center, but above all, that 93% of arteries have been partially or totally blocked in the city. last year. This is a relatively similar portrait to last year.

The director of the City’s Infrastructure Department, Jean Carrier, affirms that the main challenge will be “to influence our partners, the developers and all that, to adhere to the solutions that we are going to put forward.” “This is what will have a greater impact than just the work we are carrying out, which only represents 30% of the projects in the region,” he recalled.

At the end of the day, “the pressure remains on the shoulders of the City”, nevertheless recognized Mr.^me Martel. His group projects around 532 million for major work in 2024, an increase of 35 million compared to this year.

Most of the municipal loot obviously goes to major projects (144 million), including the Jacques-Bizard bridge which accounts for 33 million, or the continuation of the Rapid Bus Service (SRB) and its extension towards Notre-Dame, which will require an investment of 22 million.

A sum of 101 million is also reserved for the rehabilitation of water and sewer pipes, an increase of 55% compared to 2023. For roads and sidewalks, the investment of 78 million also represents an increase of almost 70% in one year. However, repairs to road structures and the replacement of lead water connections increased from 52 to 42 million, then from 35 to 28 million, respectively.