Drivers in Montreal will need to pack lot of patience to get around this summer.
Fifty-one major road projects are planned for the region, but that doesn’t include the hundreds of other construction projects ongoing on Montreal’s local roads.
The major projects touch all types of infrastructure — including roads, highways, overpasses, bridges and tunnels.
A meeting between Quebec’s Transport Minister and stakeholders in the business, tourism, trucking and other industries was held on June 1st to try and improve coordination between all the interested parties and keep traffic flowing.
But ongoing traffic congestion caused by construction projects is taking a toll on the patience of Montreal’s business community.
”The message from the business community is a message of impatience and frustration,” Michel Leblanc, the president of the Montreal Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, told Global News.
Quebec’s trucking industry says the construction is also hurting its bottom line.
”Delivering in Montreal is a real headache. It’s an operation cost that keeps on increasing,” Marc Cadieux, the president of the Quebec Trucking Association, told Global News.
Quebec’s Transport Minister is also planning a major overhaul of the Quebec 5-1-1 website in 2024, an online service designed to help drivers get around.
For now, Geneviève Guilbault is telling people to use navigation apps like Google Maps and Waze.
”Those apps are the best way to see what is the better way for you to go from point A to point B,” Guilbault said at a press conference.
Drivers are advised to plan their trips in advance this summer as they will likely hit plenty of road closures and detours.