Skip to main content

Montreal boost infrastructure spending for 2016

The Canadian city of Montreal will invest a record US$408 million on infrastructure improvements this year, around half to spent on road upgrades and the other half on water projects. One of the city’s executive committee members, Lionel Perez, said much is being done to mitigate problems for drivers and cyclists during prolonged construction periods, according to a report in the Montreal Gazette newspaper. Perez said drivers on rue St-Denis, a main shopping street, can now use bluetooth technology to
April 8, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The Canadian city of Montreal will invest a record US$408 million on infrastructure improvements this year, around half to spent on road upgrades and the other half on water projects.

One of the city’s executive committee members, Lionel Perez, said much is being done to mitigate problems for drivers and cyclists during prolonged construction periods, according to a report in the Montreal Gazette newspaper.

Perez said drivers on rue St-Denis, a main shopping street, can now use bluetooth technology to monitor traffic in real time because it communicates information to drivers by notification on message boards.

Cyclists and pedestrians have long complained that the city does not do enough to ensure their safety around construction zones, according to Daniel Lambert, a spokesperson for the Montreal Bike Coalition and Association of Pedestrians and Cyclists of Westmount.

However, he said Montreal is improving its track record. The city is looking at requiring contractors to erect temporary concrete barriers to ensure pedestrians are not forced to walk into traffic when sidewalks are closed for maintenance.

Related Content

  • ERIC 2016: What shape the ‘Smart Road’?
    February 7, 2017
    Optimism about the future of highways worldwide abounded at the inaugural European Road Infrastructure Conference (ERIC) in Leeds, UK. Around 500 delegates passed through the varied sessions during the three-day event at the Royal Armouries Museum in the northern English city of Leeds. They came away with many visions of what a motorway and road could look like. But what speakers at the event - co-organised by the Brussels-based European Union Road Federation (ERF) and the UK’s Road Safety Markings Associat
  • ASECAP: maintenance mindshift turns spending into investment
    August 4, 2017
    With an estimated value of €8 trillion, the road infrastructure is probably the European Union’s largest single asset. It accounts for 83% of passenger journeys and more than 70% of freight movement. Despite this importance, global investment in roads - especially maintenance - has fallen, said Christophe Nicodeme, European Road Federation secretary general. There are grave consequences, noted Nicodeme in his opening keynote address to the recent Study and Information Days gathering, an annual event for mem
  • Approval for Moscow’s ring road reconstruction
    October 15, 2015
    Moscow’s ring road is due for rebuilding – Eugene Gerden writes. The Moscow city authorities have finalised the project of the reconstruction of the Moscow Ring Road. The ring road encircles the City of Moscow and the plan was announced by Marat Khusnullin, deputy mayor of the city. Khusnullin said that, to date, the Moscow city government has completed 90% of the design documentation of the project.
  • India pushing ahead with infrastructure projects
    July 4, 2012
    Despite the economic downturn, India looks to be pressing ahead with its major infrastructure projects to further boost its incredible growth. Patrick Smith reports India, which like most countries has been affected by the current economic climate, although not to the same extent, is pressing ahead with its ambitious highway construction plans. Each week new projects are completed, started or awarded as the nation seeks to improve its transportation requirements. These are needed to meet the aspirations of