Ensemble Montréal wants better coordination of construction sites in the city

Mayoral candidate and leader of Ensemble Montréal, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, proposed measures to better coordinate construction sites in the city and limit their impact on Montrealers.

At a press conference Tuesday, Martinez Ferrada promised to improve coordination if she’s elected mayor of the city on Nov. 2.

“We need to be more agile, have a better planification, a better sequence of the works that needs to be done in the city in order to better communicate with the citizens, with their business community, with people that actually go to work and have to take the metro and bus,” said Ferrada.

The party says they would:

• Produce a complete inventory of all worksites within the first 100 days of the mandate, including those managed by boroughs and partners, to identify conflicts and optimize coordination;
• Prohibit excavation of the same street segment more than once every five years, except in emergencies. Otherwise, the costs of restoration will be charged to the responsible contractor;
• Leverage university research centres and the business community to make Ville-Marie a laboratory for innovative solutions to construction management challenges;
• Provide real-time information to residents and business owners on the impacts of major worksites, while making QR codes mandatory on all signage to identify the responsible contractor;
• Require the use of quality materials adapted to Montréal’s climate to reduce the repetition of work on the same roadway.

She accuses the current Projet Montréal administration of enabling each project to work in isolation, therefore multiplying worksites in the same sector.

“We need to do better in terms of sitting down with our partners and sitting down with everybody that asks to do work in Montreal and making sure that we’re planning better, making sure that we’re communicating better with the citizens, and making sure that we’re sequencing the work to be done so we can keep the fluidity in Montreal and give the citizen a better look at what’s coming in order to better plan their mobility in our city.”

In a press release, she added: “Montrealers are tired of construction sites popping up overnight without explanation or a clear timeline. My commitment is less chaos, more transparency and a better mobility experience.”

When asked about Ensemble Montréal’s criticism, Projet Montréal leader and mayoral candidate Luc Rabouin said improvements are always possible, but added: “We have to take into consideration where we come from. There are major infrastructure issues across Quebec, not just in Montreal, with hospitals, schools and roads. We have to face that.”