Why Montreal traffic jams are so bad
American firm INRIX investigated why Montreal has such interminable traffic jams, and there’s no single answer. We’re a shipping hub, so a lot of trucking goes through; the constant reconstruction of roads; the climate. This item gives our politicians a range of excuses.
Nobody mentions mandatory return-to-office policies, notice.
MarcG 14:14 on 2026-07-13 Permalink
Cuts to the STM budget seem oddly absent as well.
Ephraim 14:17 on 2026-07-13 Permalink
So, not about the fact that we have the oldest set of mechanical traffic lights that can only be set back to being on time by a giant black out?
Tim S. 14:56 on 2026-07-13 Permalink
All those reasons make sense to me, and my personal observation is a lot of traffic is in fact made up of trucks, which need more space to slow down and accelerate. As frustrating as it is, I guess being a transport node is why there’s a city here.
jeather 16:12 on 2026-07-13 Permalink
As cars get bigger, they also increase traffic.
Ian 22:30 on 2026-07-13 Permalink
Most of the highway chokepoints are because of truck traffic, for sure. I think a lot of the inner city problems could be solved by reducing the legal axle base so there are fewer big trucks actually in town. For example, beer companies use full 16 wheelers to do dep deliveries, that’s totally not necessary. Reducing axle base allowances would also reduce idling pollution, force companies to take on the effort of logistics so the city doesn’t have to deal with their bad choices, and would reduce a lot of wear and tear on the roads, and would make traffic safer for pedestrians and bcyclists, too.
Joey 23:14 on 2026-07-13 Permalink
@ian yeah this is an example where public policy could accelerate the inevitable adoption of the electric rectangle vans that Amazon delivery contractors use.
dhomas 06:54 on 2026-07-14 Permalink
@Joey those Intelcom rectangle vans (Brightdrop) are no longer produced because Chevrolet could not make them profitable under the current US administration (they ended production in 2025). There are other similar vans still available, but I still think the Brightdrop hit a sweet spot for urban delivery vehicles.
With respect to trucks transiting through the city, I can share what I see everyday during the school year. I come home from RDP via the 40 West and onto the 25 South. I get out at the Sherbrooke exit, but most traffic continues down to the Lafontaine tunnel. On my way, I see tons of 18-wheelers get onto the 25 South from the 40 West that came off the Charles-de-Gaulle bridge. So, they come from off-island at Lachenaie, pass through Montreal, just to get off the island again onto the South shore. They do this despite the traffic and construction on the tunnel. They do it because they have no other choice. There is no way to get around the island. They must pass through it. We could (should?) address this by creating a route around the island. On the south shore, Autoroute 30 looks like a good candidate. It splits off the TransCanada just off the western end of the island in Vaudreuil, onto the south shore. Then it goes around the island but never crosses back over the St-Lawrence, just sorta stopping in Sorel.
On the north shore, we’ve got the 640 that splits off the 40 west, again around Lachenaie. It goes around Montreal and Laval but again ends before crossing back over the St-Lawrence. (I think the fact that the natural crossing would be at Oka complicates things).
Tim S. 08:27 on 2026-07-14 Permalink
The 30, at least the stretch between the 10 and 20, is already pretty congested. Expanding it should relieve pressure on the 40 for sure, but it’s not a solution for congestion overall, unless we add lanes to the 30.
Ephraim 08:39 on 2026-07-14 Permalink
@Tim – I think the only real way to ever relieve pressure on this city is a congestion charge, especially one for trucks going through. Almost no truck should be using the 40 to go through the city, if they don’t need to be in the city.
Ian 10:31 on 2026-07-14 Permalink
Gee in retrospect maybe building the Trans-Canada Highway right through Montreal wasn’t such a great idea.
I know at the time the goal was to serve industry & commerce etc etc but at the time a lot more freight moved by train, too.