Traffic congestion on Île-Perrot keeps growing
News that Vaudreuil-Soulanges mayors are calling on the provincial government to make necessary improvements to Highway 20 and to perform upgrades or re-works of entrances and exits on Île-Perrot is welcome.
Learning that the town of Pincourt is sponsoring a study to help alleviate traffic flow issues in the area is fantastic. For residents and drivers who navigate in the area, any concerted effort to ease congestion and improve traffic flow can only be viewed as an extremely positive measure.
It would be safe to say that Highway 20 plays an important role in the daily lives of all who live on, or anywhere near the island. It is this highway that primarily links communities of the island. No matter if one travels east or west along the highway, increased congestion is a reality that often occurs outside of what can be considered normal peak or rush-hours now.
It would be easy to blame increased congestion issues on local road networks that were built prior to the construction of new residential areas that allow for increased population density in Île-Perrot towns.
One only has to witness the increased appearance and construction of condominiums and townhouses in the area to understand that with each new unit built and occupied, another vehicle arrives in tandem. With what many consider to be an inadequate public transport system and poor schedules that do little to accommodate workers who must travel on and off the island, ownership of a personal vehicle is an absolute necessity in the area. For households with two or more people travelling offisland for work, the number of vehicles increases accordingly.
The existence of designated bicycle lanes along the island’s major arteries do nothing to accommodate for congestion issues. While fortunate for cyclists perhaps, the existence of these lanes only exacerbate traffic flow issues with a narrowing of the streets.
The Île-Perrot area has seen a large volume of new housing developments across its territory and towns in recent years. So many projects have been completed, are in progress, or are in planning stages, that one must ask if the need for this much new housing is truly necessary.
I ask again if the area can support the increase in traffic that arises as new housing is built? We know that this area has seen an explosion of traffic volume in tandem with that development. We now know too that the current road infrastructure does not handle increase in number of cars on the road adequately.
In terms of boulevards and arteries in the towns of Île-Perrot, one might wonder what the future potential is for a widening or addition of lanes. For now, the problem of growing traffic congestion continues. The proof is in the driving.