Denis Coderre wants to increase the use of royalty-rebate (or “bonus-malus”) systems on Montreal sites, in order to encourage entrepreneurs to work faster. It also intends to carry out certain winter projects, including sewer rehabilitation, to reduce nuisance.
There will thus be more “incentives for those who finish earlier”, hammered Mr. Coderre during a press briefing Thursday, in front of a construction site on Peel Street. “I remember that in Saint-Denis, in 2016, we had completed the work one month before the scheduled date, with this system. We must be relentless for those who do not fulfill their promises, ”he insisted.
If he says he understands the “realities” of the industry, compromises are still possible, according to the leader of Ensemble Montréal. “Yes, there are sites that cost more and sometimes the company has three or four at the same time, but people with good reason have the impression that sometimes there are cones that are there for three. weeks. And we don’t see anyone, ”he added.
Ensemble Montréal had already urged the City to do more in this area during the last mandate. In public contracts, it remains quite common for Montreal to provide bonuses or penalties for contractors, depending on their speed.
Mr. Coderre, who agrees to prohibit the holding of work on two parallel streets “at the same time”, also intends to carry out the sewer rehabilitation work in winter, in order to prevent them from ” paralyze the metropolis ”. “Are there things we are able to do more underground year round?” “Asked the former mayor, promising to look into it.
“24-hour work, for me, it doesn’t look good. It is a question of quality of life for workers. We are going to burn them and that will increase prices, ”also denounced the former mayor, in a direct attack against his opponent, Valérie Plante, who promised in mid-October to authorize work without interruption in certain sectors. downtown, to limit their duration.
50 million more for roads
In addition to the increase in the budget for road maintenance – a commitment that it has not however quantified – the Coderre team promises to invest 50 million per year in a “preventive road maintenance plan” . The party also reiterated that it wants to “reinvest” the 100 million in the repair of local streets which have been cut by the Plante administration in the last year.
The outgoing Norman-McLaren district councilor, Aref Salem, also promised to create partnerships with universities to “find innovative solutions” in terms of appeasement of construction sites. “To solve a problem, you first have to recognize it. There is a lack of communication between the City, the boroughs and the private sector, ”he lamented.
Like what he had done in 2015, Mr. Coderre intends to create a “database” which would bring together “all the work planned or envisaged in the metropolis”. A “good management policy” would also be put in place, announced the outgoing councilor of the Ovide-Clermont district, Chantal Rossi, forcing the City to present an annual report on compliance with deadlines and cost overruns on construction sites.
The party would finally reduce the time limit for claims for damage caused by a pothole on a car or a bicycle from 15 to 30 days. The City would have 90 days to respond.