It is a recurring favourite topic of conversation and outrage among Park-Exers suffering from construction work when the weather improves. A borough like Park-Extension being more crowded creates a variety of traffic headaches when construction starts. Projet Montréal had committed to holding such a summit in the first six months of a second term, which began in November 2021. Last week, the opposition in the Montreal city hall harshly criticized this omission.
Montreal will therefore hold a major summit on road construction sites next year to find solutions to the omnipresence of orange cones in the metropolis, the Plante administration announced on Tuesday September 20th.
The event will bring together the central city and the districts, but also major public and private clients. “We are coming out of COVID, and we are seeing construction sites resuming, so in 2023, we will be able to hold this summit on construction sites,” explained Émilie Thuillier, head of infrastructure on the executive committee of Valérie Plante. “In Montreal, only 30% of the work on our streets is done by the City and its boroughs. And therefore, 70% comes from other work providers. Thuillier assured that the City of Montreal was already doing everything in its power to coordinate construction sites to the best of its ability. “Is it easy to manage? Nope ! Because we are dependent on the changes, the deadlines of other major contractors.” Insisted Thuillier.
It remains to be seen how effective such a summit will be for the residents of the aging Park-Extension. Montreal was unceremoniously baptized orange cone city, with the organizers of the Fete Nationale parade in Montreal even including a group of orange cone people in it.
