Montreal mystery roadwork: Orange cones, lane closed, traffic chaos - but why?

There is a lane blocked on Decarie Boulevard near Jean-Talon Street and no one seems to know why.

That may not sound like an unusual Montreal mystery since orange cones line a huge proportion of the city's roadways, but this obstruction situated in one of the worst places is causing traffic chaos.

Additionally, on Thursday morning there were no workers in sight.

Last Friday one section of sidewalk had been dug up but there's seemingly been no more work on the site since then.

Nonetheless, orange cones are blocking an entire lane, creating a backlog of cars all along Decarie Blvd. northbound, in what is always a very busy area.

Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce City Councillor Sonny Moroz said he hasn't been able to get any answers about the roadwork.

He said he's contacted those responsible at his borough, at the central city and even at Quebec's Transport Ministry, but to no avail.

"The start of the year was supposed to actually have less traffic and construction yards across Montreal," Moroz told CTV.

"We were told in the spring it was the worst of it and we're being told on one of the first days of the fall traffic schedule that this intersection that has over 40 thousand vehicles take this turn every morning, that there's a lane eliminated without any work actually being done," he said.

CTV also reached out to the CDN-NDG borough which told us the central city is managing the work. The City of Montreal has not yet responded to our queries.

In 2022 the city's auditor general called out the city for badly planning and coordinating roadwork. It also recommended the City of Montreal establish a public registry of work that has already been done.

Moroz said that hasn't happened yet.

While the city does have a map of road work on it's Mobility Montreal website, it's not up-to-date and the alleged project on Decarie is not included.

IMPATIENT AND FRUSTRATED

Traffic analyst Rick Leckner said the issue at this particular corner creates collateral damage traffic-wise in neighbouring boroughs as well.

He said the roadwork is "out of control," and is creating a public safety issue.

"It's unfortunate because motorists are suffering, we're all suffering and motorists are increasingly driving dangerously," said Leckner.

"They're impatient, they're frustrated, they're aggressive, they're taking chances and it's just dangerous for everyone. It's just not a good situation and there's no indication it's going to improve soon," he said.