Traffic troubles mount as section of Pine Ave. closed for summer

MONTREAL - If you thought those orange construction cones had already taken over Montreal, get ready to see some more.

A tenuous traffic situation in the city will be getting much worse as a section of Pine Ave. was closed Monday morning between Doctor Penfield Ave. and McTavish St. to replace a water main, a project that should last until October.

The work is taking place just west of the Royal Victoria Hospital on a major westbound thoroughfare for people heading out of downtown, the Plateau or Mile End.

It is just another traffic headache for Montreal motorists, a recurring condition every summer, but one which is particularly painful this year.

"You can't go anywhere and not see hundreds of these cones and blockages and detours to nowhere," one frustrated motorist told CTV Montreal's Cindy Sherwin on Monday.

City engineers say the work is vital and are asking motorists to be patient, or simply to take public transportation and leave their cars at home.

For the next three months, westbound motorists will need to head southwest along Doctor Penfield and then head back north on Peel to get to Pine. That stretch of Peel will have two lanes going northbound throughout the work.

The detour will also have an impact on eastbound traffic, as Doctor Penfield will be split into a two-way street between Pine and Peel.

Monday morning's rush hour already felt the impact as heavier than usual congestion ensued, and getting to the Royal Victoria Hospital was made more difficult. Urgences Santé said Monday there were no problems getting ambulances to and from the hospital, though CTV cameras caught one needing to make a u-turn to escape the gridlock.

The situation is sending motorists over the edge.

"They don't treat us with any respect," one driver said. "It's bad for the economy, just look at it! It's unbelievable and it's everywhere."