In the east of Montreal, the Mercier district is also suffering from the work in the Louis Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel. For an organization that demands change, the closure of the Souligny expressway towards the Honoré-Beaugrand axis “has had a terrible impact on daily life for a year”.
Posted at 5:00 am.
“It has completely paralyzed the bus network, which has been forced to make incredible detours. But above all, it caused a lot of traffic in the neighborhood. Neither the Quebec government nor the city helped,” denounces the vice-president of the environmental collective Mercier-Est, Daniel Chartier, in an interview with La Presse.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Intersection of Rue Honoré-Beaugrand and Avenue Souligny, in October 2022
According to him, the worst has been avoided so far, but “the risks of accidents or serious accidents avoided at the last second are constant”. “We regularly see people almost stepping on toes. “It’s like we’re waiting for a catastrophe to strike,” the resident continues to worry.
The district has already placed posts on the street to secure the area around a school, but it’s not enough.
Daniel Chartier, vice president of the environmental collective Mercier-Est
Overall, remedial measures related to public transportation – which were essentially special shuttles deployed from the south coast – could also have been “better planned,” says Trajectoire Québec director Sarah V. Doyon.
“We did it five minutes beforehand, it was done at the last minute. “We would collectively benefit from better planning of remedial measures in advance of road projects,” says Ms. Doyon, who also strongly regrets the removal of carpool access in the tunnel’s reserved lane. “That too could have been thought through better. Maybe there wasn’t enough police surveillance,” she muses.
Beyond traffic, there are also numerous criticisms of the monitoring of the tunnel condition. “If the government had planned the work over several years and knew that the tunnel had significant waterproofing and structural defects, there would have been less pressure on industrial workers and contractors. We would certainly have had far fewer problems related to health and safety at work,” estimates Éric Boisjoly, director of FTQ-Construction.
He is not the first to make such a comment. Quebec’s Professional Association of Government Engineers (APIGQ) has also cited a “lack of inspections in monitoring work conduct” in the past. Quebec, for its part, claimed that nothing could have prevented this work from being carried out, as the 1960s structure was in a normal cycle of decay.
8,000 more vehicles heading south
The start of the La Fontaine Tunnel project also had an impact on the Samuel De Champlain Bridge. “For us, the majority of the impact is in the south,” explains Martin Chamberland, spokesman for the Signature Group on the Saint-Laurent, which manages the structure.
Since the phase change on Sherbrooke Street that resulted in the loss of one lane in April 2022, we have observed an imbalance southbound. There are around 8,000 more vehicles traveling south than north.
Martin Chamberland, spokesman for the Signature Group on the Saint-Laurent
The average number of passengers also increased last year from around 140,000 to 150,000 passengers. However, the group attributes this overall increase “more to the decline in telecommuting, the return to school, the return to university and the office, so the usual seasonal increases,” estimates Chamberland. “The tunnel may have played a role, but for us it is not the main cause. »
In his eyes, the main thing that has changed is work planning. “Since the mega construction site, better coordination with Mobilité Montréal is necessary if we want to work, because if they close the Ville-Marie tunnel or the Saint-Pierre interchange, we immediately feel the effects,” concludes the spokesman.
Asked about the issue, the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility (MTMD) said it was due to conduct a public assessment of the first year of the megaproject at the end of October. Its spokesman Gilles Payer declined to comment further.
Political reactions
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
André A. Morin, liberal transport critic
Why not install photo radar on 25 North since the 30 mph speed limit is frequently exceeded? Let’s not wait for an accident because prevention is better than cure. We also need to increase the frequency of the health shuttle during off-peak hours.
André A. Morin, liberal transport critic
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Étienne Grandmont, solidarity critic on the subject of transport
By eliminating the lanes, there were no massive traffic jams because we added an attractive public transport option in return. Minister Guilbault must think about making these measures permanent.
Étienne Grandmont, solidarity critic on the subject of transport
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Joël Arseneau, PQ transport critic
We have proposed making public transportation free in East Montreal and increasing bus frequency. The government lacked ambition and will in this area.
Joël Arseneau, PQ transport critic