For some Montrealers, sitting in traffic is the same old thing, but for others, seeing orange traffic cones is like seeing red.
“Oh my god, I hate it,” said Richard Stubina, a downtown Montreal resident.
“Every time, everywhere I go, the traffic is horrendous.”
If you feel like you’ve been seeing construction zones everywhere lately … you’re not alone and no, unfortunately, it’s not a nightmare you can just wake up from.
A quick look at Quebec 511‘s website shows the city is littered with orange cones.
Recently, a section of Highway 40 East shut down in Montreal’s West Island, causing traffic headaches.
This weekend, the Sources overpass on Highway 20 in Pointe-Claire will close again for repairs.
As you head downtown, the Guy Street exit is closed until the fall.
Not to mention many other delays caused by work sites across the city related to the REM, the all-electric light-rail network.
“One thing’s for certain, construction in Montreal is like snow in the winter,” said Glenn Castanheira, Montreal Centre-Ville executive director.
Castanheira says with tourism season around the corner, construction sites may have a negative effect on visitors’ experiences.
“Once those visitors head back home and are then stuck as we saw a couple of weeks ago … if they miss their flights because they’re stuck in traffic for three hours … those are the kinds of core memories we do not want to leave our visitors with,” he said.
He recommends tourists either walk or use public transportation as much as possible when visiting.
As for what’s on the horizon in terms of Montreal construction, Transports Québec is expected to release its full list of summer construction zones in the coming days.