Montreal Finally Has A Plan To Fix Infuriating Construction Signs & Orange Cones

On Wednesday, Mayor Valérie Plante announced that the City of Montreal will adopt a "Charter of Construction Sites," a plan that she said will work towards removing "unnecessary signals like excess orange cones and alleviating irritants," among other things. 

The Charter "aims to ensure that each worksite is planned and carried out with priority given to accessibility, safety and mobility, particularly for pedestrians and people with reduced mobility, appropriate use of signage, effective citizen communication and environmental concerns," the City wrote in a press release.

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In an interview with MTL Blog in 2019, the vice-president of Signalization SMG, one of the city's largest orange cone providers, said that there are over 100,000 orange cones around Quebec at any given time.

He explained that it could cost "anywhere between $1,000 to $2,500 to close a lane or a ramp. And it could go up to $20-25,000 for a large-scale project." 

The city said that it's committed to the goals of the Charter. Sylvain Ouellet, vice-president of the executive committee and the member responsible for infrastructure said the city "[invites its] partners and contractors to make an extra effort to make the sites less difficult for residents and road users."

"Obviously, this is not a miracle recipe," he said, "but a process of continuous improvement, especially since only 25% of the sites are the responsibility of the City of Montreal."