Your semi-permanent cones | Press

Six years of cones on the banks of the Richelieu

In 2017, an erosion hazard was discovered along the Chemin des Patriotes in Richelieu on Montreal’s South Shore. Since then, a series of orange cones have been placed on the side of the road, awaiting overdue remedial work. “The asphalt was broken in two and nothing was done,” lamented Giselle Normandeau, who lives nearby. “In the winter, the snowplow catches them, they tip over and people run over them. There is debris from cones, overturned cones, and standing cones. It’s not very pleasant. »

“Over about 130 meters of slope stabilization intervention is required and its completion will take longer than expected,” said Transport Ministry spokesman Louis-Andre Bertrand. At this point, bollards were attached to the cones, he wrote, “probably too cautiously.” “Following a reminder of recent best practices regarding the management of cones, the presence of bollards is deemed adequate and the cones will soon be removed. »

Cone in sump from 2019

On rue Paul-Pau in the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough, a cone is in an unfortunate position: embedded in a broken sump, head first. Google Street View shows that the orange lamppost was there until at least 2019. Local resident Stéphane Tonnerre said he has called the city several times asking them to make repairs — and therefore remove the cone. “I think it’s starting to get dangerous. […] Winter can be treacherous,” he said. “It was easy to fix… the cone is now part of the landscape on rue Paul-Pau. The City of Montreal has indicated that the situation falls under the jurisdiction of the borough of Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.

A congested artery for seven years

Avenue du Docteur-Penfield, in Mount Royal, is littered with orange cones — in sections — on all images captured by Google Street View from 2016. “They dug, they dug,” says Gerard Szejwach, who settled on the artery in 2014. We’re thinking of moving too, because it’s a bit much. According to correspondent Hugo Bourgoin, “this explains the presence of cones since 2016”, the City of Montreal confirmed that construction sites succeeded each other on the avenue. “Let’s mention the redevelopment works on the Promenade Fluve-Montagne (2016-2017), Peel Street between Sherbrooke and Des Pins (2018-2019) and the work to upgrade McTavish station (from 2020). The Ville-Marie Barroche aqueduct repair work is also underway at this location. Mr. Bourgoin indicated at its summit on construction sites in late March that the city had thought about the ubiquity of cones and intended to use some of them.

Cones on new construction

The installation of cones often precedes the completion of road development works. At the intersection of Valicut Street and the Highway 13 service road in Saint-Laurent, the opposite happened: in 2020, a new concrete structure built to bring some order to the movement of heavy goods vehicles was quickly decorated with cones. Limit conflicts. “The island is very difficult to observe on land and vehicles have destroyed the signs by accidentally crossing the island on several occasions since 2018”, explained frequent visitor Daniel Godin via email. “From 2019, temporary orange cones have been installed and maintenance teams replace them regularly, especially in winter. Cones have been found in every Google Street View image since September 2019.