montreal's roadwork is poorly coordinated, auditor general charges

As the season of orange cones ramps up, Montreal’s auditor general has blasted the city for doing a poor job of co-ordinating construction projects that tie up traffic, especially during the summer months.


For several years, Montreal “has been known for the multitude of roadwork projects being carried out on the municipal road system, as well as the countless detours this has caused,” Michèle Galipeau said Tuesday as she presented her annual report to city council.

First elected in 2017 on a platform of improving mobility in a city paralyzed by endless construction, Mayor Valérie Plante has introduced measures such as “mobility squads” to improve traffic flow around construction sites.

But Galipeau said a lack of communication and unclear division of responsibilities are hampering the city’s efforts to manage projects.

“The roles and responsibilities of all participants in project planning and operational co-ordination are not clearly defined, documented and communicated,” she said in the 400-page report.

The two city offices responsible for co-ordinating roadwork — the Assistance à la gestion des interventions dans la rue (AGIR) division and the Équipe de coordination opérationnelle (COP) — don’t communicate enough, resulting in situations where the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing, Galipeau found.

“The little exchange of information between the two teams means that issues raised during the work are not always shared, leading to them not being addressed, and thus possibly limiting improvements to mobility on the ground,” she said.

On top of that, the 19 boroughs don’t always keep the city centre informed of upcoming construction projects, nor do other city departments, Galipeau said.

“The AGIR is only informed of these projects once the borough has issued a permit for the temporary occupation of the public domain. It is too late at that stage, since the AGIR is no longer in the planning phase, and these projects risk having an impact on other projects that were previously planned,” she said.

For example, AGIR was not informed of the construction of a new aquatic centre in Rosemont that resulted in the complete closure of part of Bellechasse St. in 2021, she noted.

The city is only responsible for 30 per cent of major roadwork projects. The remaining 70 per cent are done by other government agencies and the private sector, including Transport Québec, Hydro-Québec, Bell Canada, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and private developers.

“While some major roadwork will be ending soon, such as the redevelopment of Ste-Catherine St. and the McGill REM station, the rate of construction starts is not likely to decrease,” Galipeau warned.

The city plans to invest $9.4 billion in road and water infrastructure by 2030, in addition to major provincial roadwork projects like the renovation of the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine, Ville-Marie and Viger tunnels, she added.

In her sixth annual report, Galipeau also scolded the city for its poor record on implementing her previous recommendations.

“For more than six years, the majority of commitments have clearly not been honoured,” she wrote.

“This situation is unacceptable,” she added, noting that some of the unfulfilled recommendations date back to 2009, under her predecessor’s tenure.

“I don’t make recommendations just to make recommendations,” she said at a press conference following her presentation to council.

Galipeau also criticized Montreal’s maintenance of its approximately 1.2 million trees. Each new tree planted on public land costs the city about $1,100 for the first three years, yet only a minority survive because of insufficient watering, as well as tree-cutting to combat the emerald ash borer and other reasons, she reported.

In one tree-planting program in Montreal North, 60 per cent of the trees died due to insufficient watering.

Boroughs lack proper policies on tree maintenance and “current practices put the life expectancy of public trees at risk,” Galipeau said.

She also criticized the city’s homelessness plan, which has received $8.7 million in funding since 2018. She said it lacks clearly defined objectives or indicators to gauge its success.

Galipeau also raised questions about a $150-million provincially funded program providing financial aid to small and medium-size businesses during the pandemic, saying 19 per cent of businesses that benefited did not meet the criteria.

Executive committee chair Dominique Ollivier said the city welcomed the report and promised to follow up without delay.

In council, Ollivier questioned the auditor’s evaluation of the city’s record on implementing previous recommendations. By the city’s own accounting, it has acted on 78 per cent of the 927 recommendations made by the auditor general from January 2017 to December 2021.

“We take the recommendations of the auditor general very seriously, and we are proud to announce that the road network infrastructure department has already implemented or identified continuous improvement initiatives linked to (her) recommendations,” Ollivier said.

An interdepartmental committee has been set up and an action plan will be presented in June, she said.

But opposition leader Aref Salem said the auditor’s report shows the planning of roadwork is “a total mess.”

“It’s a devastating report for the administration,” he said. “Things have not improved at all.”

Keyword: Montreal's roadwork is poorly coordinated, auditor general charges

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