I still believe there's time to back off the blunder that is the remake of the Turcot Expressway, an ill-conceived project that will not only cost Quebec taxpayers a bundle of cash but will also make things considerably worse for motorists, pedestrians and nearby residents.
Here are six reasons why the remake should be immediately tossed into the garbage at the halfbakery.
1-It will cost taxpayers an insane amount of money: Rather than going the cheaper route of simply repairing the existing structure or even building one identical to a few feet over, the Liberal provincial government decided instead to totally demolish and build something entirely different much closer to the ground. Local engineerss were trotted out to point out how badly the structure is deteriorating, panic was struck and a blank cheque signed. The Liberals claimed that the project would cost no more than $1.5 billion (about the cost of the Olympic Stadium in adjusted-for-inflation terms) but the PQ said in 2013 that it will cost $3.7 B and the Liberals now say that it will cost $6 billion (even more expensive than the $3B-$5B estimate for the new Champlain Bridge.) And of course since this is a Quebec government project, you can safely double that cost projection.
2-Once-invisible traffic will become unpleasant and obtrusive Bringing traffic to ground level will bring massive amounts of traffic from a place where nobody sees it down to a place where it is impossible to ignore. Once quiet areas will be rife with noise and pollution. Pedestrians will be forced to navigate over or under the structure by using perilous and unpleasant underpasses or overpasses.
3-It will flood residential streets with cars. In fact, this has already happened ever since the entrance at St. James and Addington was closed. St. Jacques street eastbound and Decarie northbound at Cote St. Luc have already seen traffic increase radically as cars scramble to find ways to get onto the expressway. Designers have vaguely claimed that another eastbound entrance to replace the one demolished might eventually be built on Pullman (a far less convenient location than the one that was demolished) but they are not committing to it.
4-It will be easy to travel west but difficult to travel east There are no direct entrances to highway 20 eastbound for a six kilometre stretch - you can't get on anywhere between Angrignon and Greene - and even Greene is only accessible from the south.
5-It adds time to a drive. Heading downtown suddenly takes at least 10 minutes more for many west end drivers, which adds up over the course of a year. It might sound insignificant but multiplied by millions, that wasted time undermines economic productivity and harms people in their lives, it's time people could be spending reading to their kids or cooking healthy meals.
6-It will cost us a signature structure The current Turcot Interchange in its elevated form is an impressive local landmark and feat of engineering. We lose part of our identity in demolishing it.
Here are six reasons why the remake should be immediately tossed into the garbage at the halfbakery.
1-It will cost taxpayers an insane amount of money: Rather than going the cheaper route of simply repairing the existing structure or even building one identical to a few feet over, the Liberal provincial government decided instead to totally demolish and build something entirely different much closer to the ground. Local engineerss were trotted out to point out how badly the structure is deteriorating, panic was struck and a blank cheque signed. The Liberals claimed that the project would cost no more than $1.5 billion (about the cost of the Olympic Stadium in adjusted-for-inflation terms) but the PQ said in 2013 that it will cost $3.7 B and the Liberals now say that it will cost $6 billion (even more expensive than the $3B-$5B estimate for the new Champlain Bridge.) And of course since this is a Quebec government project, you can safely double that cost projection. 2-Once-invisible traffic will become unpleasant and obtrusive Bringing traffic to ground level will bring massive amounts of traffic from a place where nobody sees it down to a place where it is impossible to ignore. Once quiet areas will be rife with noise and pollution. Pedestrians will be forced to navigate over or under the structure by using perilous and unpleasant underpasses or overpasses.
3-It will flood residential streets with cars. In fact, this has already happened ever since the entrance at St. James and Addington was closed. St. Jacques street eastbound and Decarie northbound at Cote St. Luc have already seen traffic increase radically as cars scramble to find ways to get onto the expressway. Designers have vaguely claimed that another eastbound entrance to replace the one demolished might eventually be built on Pullman (a far less convenient location than the one that was demolished) but they are not committing to it.
4-It will be easy to travel west but difficult to travel east There are no direct entrances to highway 20 eastbound for a six kilometre stretch - you can't get on anywhere between Angrignon and Greene - and even Greene is only accessible from the south.
5-It adds time to a drive. Heading downtown suddenly takes at least 10 minutes more for many west end drivers, which adds up over the course of a year. It might sound insignificant but multiplied by millions, that wasted time undermines economic productivity and harms people in their lives, it's time people could be spending reading to their kids or cooking healthy meals.
6-It will cost us a signature structure The current Turcot Interchange in its elevated form is an impressive local landmark and feat of engineering. We lose part of our identity in demolishing it.
A tear-down and rebuild can be done for a fraction of the time and fraction of the cost by those who designed and built the High Five interchange in Dallas. It's very similar to Turcot and solid as the rock of Gibraltar. But the holy saint modèle Québécois doesn't allow for that.
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