Infrastructure gets $1.1B Boost in 2018
Many construction projects to take place in downtown Ville-Marie borough
As part of its long-term plan to modernize Montreal’s aging infrastructure, the city will spend $1.1 billion in 2018 to repair and upgrade roads, water mains and sewers — the largest amount ever spent in one year.
The budget is $490 million more than what was spent in 2017 by the Coderre administration.
The city will spend $542 million repairing and repaving roads and sidewalks and will upgrade bridges, tunnels and viaducts.
It will also spend $348 million on upgrading the antiquated waterworks network and sewer system. Another $210 million has been earmarked for various projects.
City officials say they know the work will cause headaches for Montrealers, but is necessary because infrastructure had been neglected for decades, until recently.
Many of the construction projects will take place in the downtown Ville-Marie borough. The neighbourhood got a reprieve last year from major construction projects because of Montreal’s 375th birthday celebrations.
The work plan also includes major upgrades to Ste-Catherine St. W., Pie-IX Blvd., Plaza St-Hubert, St-Denis St. between Jean Talon and Jarry Sts. and Peel St. between Sherbrooke St. and des Pins Ave.
In the future, when the city digs up a street, it will make sure the road is redesigned so it is suitable for cars, cyclists and pedestrians, said Sylvain Ouellet, the executive committee member in charge of infrastructure.
“We don’t want to dig up the street and rebuild it the way it was previously because these streets were built 50 years ago,” he said. “We want to see if we can change the street, perhaps by widening the sidewalk and adding trees if there are none.”
The city is also placing a five-year moratorium on roads being dug up after they have been repaved, unless there’s an emergency.
Ouellet said the city is committed to improving co-ordination with its partners — like HydroQuébec, Énergir and telecommunications companies — so that they all agree to upgrade infrastructure at the same time.
Construction companies will face penalties if they don’t finish on time, he said, and might be given bonuses for finishing early.
After spending millions of dollars upgrading the road network over the past few years, the city says 31 per cent of Montreal’s roads are in excellent or good condition. Twenty-five per cent are in average condition and 45 per cent are deemed to be in bad or very bad shape.
Montreal is planning to repave about 300 kilometres of its road network this year.
The city will continue to modernize Montreal’s water infrastructure, by replacing aging pipes and sewers, upgrading water filtration plants and building new water retention basins.
In 2006, only 16 kilometres of water mains were replaced annually. By 2016, the number had reached 389 kilometres, resulting in far fewer leaks.
But the city still has lots of work to do. In Montreal, there are 19 breaks for every 100 kilometres of water mains. The Canadian average is nine breaks per 100 kilometres.
Also, the average age of Montreal water pipes is 61 years, compared with an average 41 years in other Canadian cities.