Kirkland adopts smart traffic system to ease congestion

Saint-Charles Boulevard is one of Kirkland’s busiest arteries on Montreal’s West Island.

Originally designed for 30,000 vehicles a day, it now sees around 42,000—operating 40 per cent over capacity according to the City of Kirkland.

“We had to organize also for our future needs because Kirkland will grow for another 10,000 in population because we got two major projects,” said the Mayor of Kirkland, Michel Gibson. “At one point, we were saying to ourselves, we know we cannot basically remove cars from St. Charles, but what can we do to ease the pain, the waiting time, and the congestion?”

That led the city to implement an AI-driven solution to improve its traffic light system.

The “NoTraffic” system uses cameras and radars to monitor intersections with 99.5 per cent accuracy. It predicts traffic patterns up to two minutes ahead and adjusts lights in real time to reduce wait times and improve flow.

The monitors have been fully operational since February 2025, with a total project investment estimated at $1.8 million.

Orange Traffic, a company specializing in smart signage, acted as a distributor and integrator for the technology and was among the contributors to this project.

“We crunched the numbers,” said the Vice President of Product at Orange Traffic, Hughes Michaud. “We can say in a conservative manner that we reduced the time delay by approximately 22 per cent on the whole corridor. And this number can reach more than 40 per cent if we’re looking at specific intersections or only during the rush hour itself.”

Drivers at the intersection of Brunswick and Saint-Charles Boulevards on Saturday shared mixed views about the new traffic solution.

“I think coming north has helped a bit, but I don’t go south that much. I usually take St. John’s, but definitely going north, I think it definitely helped for sure,” said one Pierrefonds resident.

“Every single day, the traffic is worse,” said one Kirkland resident. “I didn’t see that these things work.”

The system is also improving intersection safety, cutting pedestrian delays, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and enhancing air quality.

“We managed, with the City of Kirkland, to take more than 500 cars off the road because we managed to reduce the emission of more than 2,000 metric tons of CO₂ per year. So this is a huge shift also on the environmental aspect,” added Michaud.