Geneviève Guilbault: Cones to be removed from Quebec roads after 72 hours of inactivity

Quebec’s transport minister unveiled a variety of initiatives to reduce the impact of construction sites on the city’s road network – including orange cones after 72 hours of inactivity.

Geneviève Guilbault took advantage of her visit to the Strategic Forum on Transportation Infrastructure, organized by Montreal’s board of trade on Monday, to present a series of measures regarding road signs.

Starting in June, “the current orange cones will be replaced by other models that are more compact and better adapted to restricted and urban environments.”

Guilbault also said that “after 72 hours of inactivity, we will collect the cones” and “we have determined that this is the realistic time frame for there to be a positive effect on the quality of life.”

She said her department “cleaned up” in the last few weeks in Montreal and collected about 100 cones.

“The majority of these cones do not belong to us, so if anyone is looking for their cones…” the minister said with a touch of humour in front of hundreds of participants from the business community and the transportation industry gathered at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth.

Forum sur les infrastructures transports de la @chambremontreal ce matin, où j’ai annoncé une révision du Tome V et des normes de signalisation sur nos chantiers, notamment sur l'île de Montréal. Un ménage s’impose et on y travaille avec @villedemtl.

???? https://t.co/Eaf1qm1vvi pic.twitter.com/pNzTnDDZnV

— Geneviève Guilbault (@GGuilbaultCAQ) April 24, 2023

#ForumCCMM sur le #transport @CN_CommFR : “C’est sûr que le projet du REM de l’Est va se faire, malgré le recul. En juin, on va avoir le rapport final. On a besoin d’infrastructures de transport en commun dans l’Est de l’île, l’offre est déficiente » – @GGuilbaultCAQ #polqc pic.twitter.com/HwMfXcpDTA

— Chambre de commerce du Montréal métropolitain (@chambremontreal) April 24, 2023

The minister said that her department’s decision to “clean up” the city was not unrelated to reports of the overabundance of orange cones in the city and messages from citizens.

The use of metal guardrails instead of orange cones “to separate construction areas from crosswalks” will also be evaluated she said.

The Transport Ministry believes these guardrails will reduce the number of cones around construction sites without compromising pedestrian safety.

“A major cleanup is needed on our Montreal construction sites! We are in solution mode to offer Montrealers and tourists more fluid and efficient mobility in the metropolitan region,” she added.

The Ministry of Transport also promises to work with the City of Montreal to “review the design of construction sites in the downtown area and tourist zones.”

The ministry wants to “make the areas more visually pleasing during the construction period.”

J’accueille très positivement les mesures concrètes annoncées aujourd’hui par la ministre @GGuilbaultCAQ. Au cours des prochains mois, d’autres améliorations issues du Sommet sur les chantiers seront annoncées, et profiteront à l’ensemble de la population et aux visiteurs. Les… https://t.co/vQ9yoE6S7w

— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) April 24, 2023

Mayor Valérie Plante said she welcomes “very positively the concrete measures” Guilbault announced.

She added that her administration is “determined to limit the irritants related to construction sites and these measures will contribute to achieving this objective” and that “in the coming months, other improvements resulting from the summit on construction sites will be announced, and will benefit the entire population and visitors.”

The Mobility Montréal committee will create an innovation cell to evaluate and identify “best practices” elsewhere in the world to mitigate the impact of construction sites on traffic.

This report by the Canadian Press was first published in French on April 24, 2023.