How do we deal with the Met?
The first part of a Linda Gyulai trilogy on the future of the Met surveys the history of the road that’s “the busiest in the province, and the backbone of the Quebec economy.” She also reviews what needs to be done vs. what’s politically practicable, as another round of patches begins.
Simon 09:55 on 2022-05-21 Permalink
I’d love to see it become a long elevated forest down the entire city, with a marsh underneath to cool the summers down. Then let it crumble and neighbourhoods make their own tracks through it wherever they need.
It won’t happen because of the car’s stranglehold on our society, but it’s my weird dream.
Kate 11:54 on 2022-05-21 Permalink
I’d like to see the scar separating the neighbourhoods be healed up, but all that traffic has to go somewhere, and nobody’s likely to want to pay for a tunnel.
Blork 16:06 on 2022-05-21 Permalink
Remember that raging inferno that happened on the 40 a few years ago when a fuel truck caught fire? Imagine if that had been in a tunnel!
I’ve always thought it was insane that the freaking Trans-Canada highway runs right through the island of Montreal.
Highways 30 and 50 were supposed to take a lot of pressure off the 40, but I don’t think that’s really happened. Not sure why, aside from the obvious fact that it means going way out of your way if you’re passing through on the Trans-Canada. I wonder if there’s some way to incentivize that? As in, you’re just passing through there’s some big advantage to going out of your way to take the 30 or 50, aside from the ethereal risk of getting stuck in traffic?
Kate 16:49 on 2022-05-21 Permalink
The 50 grinds to a halt, though, its eastward progress simply stopping east of Mirabel. I don’t think it was ever conceived as a beltway. The 30 looks more promising, but does anyone know how much of the traffic on the Met, say at St‑Laurent, is passing through the island, vs. how much is moving around on the island, or is picking up or delivering things on the island, so can’t be shunted onto the 30?
dhomas 20:46 on 2022-05-22 Permalink
The 50 links up to the 640 via the 15 and the 640 connects back to the 40 around Repentigny, so just off island. This route is not very direct, but it could be used to bypass Montreal, I suppose, depending on where you’re coming from.
The 30 is interesting, too, but it just kinda ends in Sorel. For it to be used to bypass the island, it would need to divert from the 40 at some point in the eastern end, which it does not. Also, any trucks transporting goods between Trois-Rivières and Repentigny will pretty much need to get on the island to continue westward. Even if they want to get to the South Shore, they’d need to take the 25 tunnel to do it (there was a news article about this recently posted here). The 30 would need to connect up to the 40 via an off-island bridge somewhere between Sorel and Repentigny if we would want truckers to bypass Montreal.