TECHNOPARC WORK NOTICES HAD ERROR
Q A portion of Frederick-Banting St. in the Technoparc was closed for about a month late last year. Now, I see signs it will be closed again starting on Monday (Jan. 30) to Feb. 28. At least they warned us this time (the city contacted my workplace to let them know). Apparently, they are repairing the creek that runs underneath the road. This has been causing other roads in the area to become more congested during morning rush hour. I would like to know why the road is closed and when it will be reopened. I really hope it won’t be like this all winter. Katherin Ivanov, Kirkland
A Although the work also happening in Dorval, it is the borough of St-Laurent that is heading up the project on Frederick-Banting St., said Paul Lanctôt, the borough’s division head of communications and citizen relations.
Lanctôt said the borough sent out advisories when the work began in November to local residents and businesses, but there was an error in the pamphlets that were sent out, since they indicated the work would be completed on Dec. 23, when in fact the contractor had always planned to take a month-long break in the work and resume at the end of January. As a result of the error, the borough has phoned several businesses and residents. He said the borough is aware this is a heavily trafficked area because it is a route between Dorval, Pointe-Claire and StLaurent, and often serves as an alternative to Highway 40 for people driving to the Technoparc.
“It was our error, in the communications division; it’s not a delay in the work,” Lanctôt said.
He said the work is being done to divert water into the Bertrand creek, which the borough is working on as part of the city’s plan to improve its ecoterritories.
“It’s a major project because in Montreal there are not many streams or rivers, because many of them have been landfilled or drained,” Lanctôt said. “We want to bring up the Bertrand creek into a more substantial waterway, which will be a key element of a future Des Sources Park. The water will be filtered, so that will improve the quality of the water in the stream.”
Lanctôt said the work on Frederick-Banting is part of a long-term project that will take several years to complete.
Q: Does anyone know why almost no traffic lights in Montreal have sensors to detect traffic? Instead, lights are timed with the same settings 24 hours a day, which doesn’t make sense.
Most other cities in Canada, at least outside downtown, where light-timing makes sense, have vehicle sensors. Why can’t we have the same technology? Michael Ross, Westmount
A: You’ll probably be surprised to hear that more than half of the traffic lights in Montreal have some sort of detector for cars, said Dorothée Philippon, a spokesperson for the city.
“More than 55 per cent of the 2,300 intersections in the city have a system to detect vehicles,” Philippon said, adding most are in left-turning lanes or on secondary streets.
The city is working to modernize all the traffic lights in its network, Philippon said, and detectors are only part of that work. Detectors are not going to be installed at every intersection, but more will certainly be added, she said, depending on the requirements for each intersection.
Other modernization work on the intersections include adding more lights for pedestrians and improving light synchronization.
The project also involves installing cameras that are managed by a new traffic-monitoring centre.
This too, is a long-term project that will be completed by 2022,
More than 55 per cent of the 2,300 intersections in the city have a system to detect vehicles.
Philippon said.
More information about the project is available on the city’s website.
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