The city of Montreal has created a new position to oversee traffic and construction in the metropolis.

Pierre Lacasse, a former traffic reporter for Cogeco and Radio Circulation, retired from the airwaves two years ago after a 28-year career.

However Mayor Denis Coderre convinced him to come out of retirement to be Montreal's first traffic commissioner.

"We need to salute the fact that we have somebody who's in charge of fluidity now, specifically for that," said Coderre.

He will be responsible for informing councillors about traffic, to co-ordinate the public works department with those organizing festivals, and to collaborate with utilities and other municipalities.

"We already had a team through the services but now to have that kind of expertise will be an asset," said Coderre.

Lacasse will also be the public face for all traffic problems in the city.

He said his goal will be to ensure that drivers making detours don't wind up getting thoroughly lost .

"When you're on a street and you have to make a detour to go on another street to avoid traffic or roadwork, and you arrive on the other street and it's closed again. That's what' I'm going to try to do, to not make those two streets closed together at the same time," said Lacasse.

For this Lacasse will earn more than $100,000 per year.

Montreal traffic consultant Rick Leckner thinks hiring Lacasse to co-ordinate traffic woes is a good idea, especially considering the substantial amounts of construction yet to come on city streets.

This year the city of Montreal plans to work on 290 km of roads and 120 km of water and sewage pipes -- and the city expects to maintain that amount of construction every year for the next decade.