The Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM) proposes to take drastic measures to limit congestion near the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel: prohibit the use of solo cars during rush hour.
Posted at 11:09 a.m.
“We must limit access during peak hours: only carpooling, public transport and trucks. No solo car during these periods, ”estimated Wednesday the president of the organization, Michel Leblanc, in a tweet which caused a lot of reaction as soon as it was published.
Mr. Leblanc affirms that this is a “difficult solution” which would however have the impact of “limiting the damage” in the tunnel, at each exit from it.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, PRESS ARCHIVES
Michel Leblanc, President of the CCMM
According to City Councilor Sylvain Ouellet, a former member of the City’s Executive Committee, solo driving is indeed “very problematic”, but according to him, the reality is that “carpooling unfortunately has very limited potential”, and that “other solutions will be required”.
In the last few days, the new Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, has shown herself to be open to implementing new mitigation measures if necessary, without however specifying exactly what it could be about.
“The scope of the site has increased, so measures [supplémentaires] must be adopted by the MTQ to reduce the pressure on residents and support the vitality of the downtown core,” said Mayor Valérie Plante on this subject on Tuesday.
She says her administration is doing everything to “increase public transit, ensure access to the city center for workers, improve traffic flow and protect residential areas”, but that it is clear that the mega-construction of the tunnel Lafontaine “will cause difficulties”.
Focus on the measures in place
For now, the MTQ is counting in particular on the De Mortagne, De Touraine and Belœil park-and-ride lots, which will each have several hundred additional spaces for a total of 2,400 spaces, in order to reduce congestion. The bus lines that leave from these parking lots will become free, and will culminate in the Radisson metro using reserved lanes, with a frequency every 10 minutes.
Two free tickets will be distributed at the Radisson metro station to users boarding or alighting the shuttles, between 5:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. every day, for six weeks.
On the yellow line, a metro car will be added during peak hours, under an agreement with the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), which will allow for around fifty more departures per direction.
Lines 82, 120 and 125 of the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL) will also be improved. Other local lines, such as the 532 from Varennes, will also pick up the pace.