We expected disaster on the highways and bridges between the South Coast and Montreal, but ultimately it was the local roads where the closure of one of the two tubes of the Louis Hippolyte-La Fontaine Tunnel was keenly felt. . Over the past year, the number of drivers and accidents has risen in several neighborhoods around the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, much to the dismay of residents who are demanding that Quebec and Montreal do more to ensure their safety.
Posted at 5:00 am.
Although Mélina Dorléans lives miles away from the construction site, she is still well positioned to feel its impact on the streets of her neighborhood. In fact, she lives near the Jacques Cartier Bridge, where many drivers turn since one of the two subways was closed to traffic.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Mélina Dorléans, resident of the Centre-Sud district
“Things got even worse with the tunnel work and at the same time as people returned to work on site. There really is an overuse of individual cars in our neighborhood, with more stress behind the wheel and more anger. “It’s just too much,” complains the Center Sud resident.
Several observers expected congestion on Highways 20 and 25 to increase as a result of the tunnel’s repairs, but the impact was most felt in surrounding neighborhoods.
PHOTO PASCAL RATTHÉ, SPECIAL COLLABORATION ARCHIVE
Cars idling on Avenue De Lorimier last April
“There are far too many cars on the streets and in the neighborhood, and this has become even more evident over the last year. We need to really control access to the city and at the same time the size of vehicles,” explains Catherine Morency, Chair of Mobility 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 Montrealers, it is primarily the lack of public transport that is making the situation worse. “To get from the south coast to the mid-south, most people still prefer to drive. In the end we have far too many vehicles. There’s actually no room on the street to add more,” she explains.
Chris McCray, a local resident who founded Collective Appeasement for Sainte-Marie with neighbors, also agrees. “From the beginning of the bridge-tunnel project, it was clear that the Department of Transport did not take into account the local impacts around the Jacques Cartier Bridge. We quickly realized that it was very chaotic and in many ways it still is despite the city’s measures,” he said.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Chris McCray, resident of the Centre-Sud district, co-founder of the Collective Appeasement for Sainte-Marie
Almost all roads are still used as shortcuts. And on main arteries such as Sherbrooke, Papineau or De Lorimier we come across motorway expansions. Its a lot to do.
Chris McCray, resident of the Centre-Sud district, co-founder of the Collective Appeasement for Sainte-Marie
Carl St-Denis was also involved in securing the arteries. “Many residents are angry about the number of pedestrian deaths that are piling up around the Jacques Cartier Bridge, without even transitional regulations being put in place on these urban highways, even though the dangers are still well documented,” he complains.
Accidents: trend increasing
In the period of almost six months since work began on the La Fontaine tunnel, the number of accidents in the Centre-Sud district, where the head of the Jacques-Cartier bridge is located, increased by 8%. However, across the island of Montreal as a whole, the number of accidents decreased slightly (-1%).
In fact, since October 2022, the Montreal Police Service (SPVM) has recorded three fatal collisions in the area and six others resulting in serious injuries. That is more than in the previous year, when the police only had two fatal accidents and four with serious injuries.
In December 2022, the Centre-Sud district was particularly shocked when young Mariia Legenkivska died on the way to school. A major citizen mobilization followed.
One problem, action
In order to curb the flow of cars, the Ville-Marie district has announced some traffic calming measures since April. In addition to the hundred or so permanent speed bumps installed, certain arteries such as Rue Larivière were closed to traffic. Streets were also “redesigned,” with sidewalk projections added while others had their direction reversed.
The opening times of certain reserved lanes have also been revised. Sections have also been expanded, 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, particularly in view of possible or catastrophic ones Closures on the Ville-Marie highway,” illustrates the press secretary in the office of Montreal Mayor Catherine Cadotte.
She points out that certain traffic lights, particularly in sensitive sectors, “have been and continue to be optimized through necessary changes on site”. The north-south Papineau and De Lorimier connections were eventually reviewed to “maximize traffic to and from the Jacques Cartier Bridge.”
From the start of the mega-project, there was also a government demand in Montreal to introduce “specific reduction measures” near employment centers such as hospitals. The Ministry of Transport did not want to answer our questions on this issue and only indicated that an assessment of the activities around the La Fontaine Tunnel would be carried out by the end of October.
Lack of planning
Catherine Morency also has difficulty explaining that, as with most major road projects, the major work in the La Fontaine tunnel was not planned in a way that foreseeable the impact on neighboring neighborhoods.
When we talk about big infrastructure, the government seems to be under the impression that we can isolate the big corridors, but no, they always fit 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 have just started a petition to reinstate a toll system on the Jacques Cartier Bridge, which was abandoned in the 1960s. Citizens are concerned that traffic around the infrastructure has “become chaotic.”
PHOTO PASCAL RATTHÉ, SPECIAL COLLABORATION ARCHIVE
Traffic on the Boulevard de Maisonneuve in the area of the Jacques Cartier Bridge last April
However, there have been no discussions with Ottawa on this issue, confirmed the spokeswoman for the Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridge, Nathalie Lessard. To date, the bridge receives between 2.6 and 2.7 million motorists per month, a number that remains stable from month to month.
“The fears we had back then about increasing congestion have not necessarily come true, at least not completely. There are certainly times when the bridge is busy, particularly when there are significant obstructions in the tunnel or elsewhere, but that is not unusual for us,” says Ms Lessard.