Traffic starts to pick up as lockdown eases
Remember the good old days when you could cruise up the Décarie Expressway, comforted by the overhead sign that read “Circulation fluide?”
That was only a month ago and while you might have noticed that traffic is picking up, longtime traffic watcher Rick Leckner says it will only get worse.
“It’s about 65 per cent of normal,” Leckner said. “There are some areas where you might have pockets of congestion, like the 40, and there are some areas where there’s construction, but it’s not that bad. Transport Quebec has taken an aggressive approach to getting some roadwork done. Last week, I was on the 13 coming from Laval and they had two lanes closed and there was a slowdown of about three kilometres. In normal times, that would be backed up seven or eight kilometres.
“The summer months are usually pretty quiet with people going on vacation, but many people don’t have anywhere to go this year,” Leckner said. “But things could be very chaotic in September.”
Leckner said there are some factors that contribute to congestion while other factors make it easier on drivers.
“Shopping centres will be opening up and that will add to the traffic,” Leckner said. “There are more people going back to work in stores, but there are many office workers who continue to work from home and that may be the new norm. Universities and CEGEPS are going to start in September with online courses and that will ease some traffic.”
Leckner noted that Mayor Valérie Plante has contributed to the added congestion in downtown Montreal with 327 kilometres of new bike paths and the pedestrian-and social distancing-friendly sanitary corridors, which are supposed to disappear in the fall.
“We also don’t know how people will view public transit,” Leckner said. “If they’re afraid to take the bus or the métro, it may mean more people will be driving cars.”
And then there’s construction. Major roadwork is a staple of Quebec summers and Sarah Bensadoun of Transport Quebec says there will be some hot spots related to the construction of the REM electric rail project, which will link the West Island and the North Shore with downtown and the South Shore.
Bensadoun said traffic volume has not returned to normal, but said it has picked up from March when it had decreased by 50 to 60 per cent. The lighter volume has allowed Transport Quebec to extend its weekend closures. Instead of shutting roads and bridges on Friday night, the closures go into effect on Thursday.
“Our closures normally run from 11 p.m. on Friday to 5 a.m. on Monday, but we have one project involving Highway 19 at the Papineau-leblanc Bridge, where we’re able to close the road at 9 p.m. Thursday and it remains closed until 1 p.m. Monday,” Bensadoun said.
Increased traffic isn’t the only concern for motorists. As more cars and trucks hit the road, the price of gasoline is also returning to normal.
The early days of the pandemic were accompanied by a glut of oil and a steep drop in world prices. As a result, the price of gasoline dipped below 80 cents a litre in Montreal, which would have been great except that few were travelling.
On Thursday, the price was in the $1.08 range and, with two holidays on the horizon, analysts were predicting a jump to $1.22 on the weekend.