Over the past few weeks, many residents and elected officials have spoken out about the long delays in painting street, lane and bike path markings in Montreal. With over 150 kilometres of additional bike paths added since 2015, street-marking crews have been working non-stop to provide this valuable service that residents rightly expect, but have been falling further and further behind every year. The issue has been raised several times in recent years by Le Syndicat des cols bleus regroupés de Montréal.
The cols bleus are aware that the delays have inconvenienced many people in Montreal and have sparked public anger. “Our members are well-positioned to see that this situation has created confusion in Montreal streets and has increased risk for all road users. The City must give itself the resources to meet its ambitions,” said Hans Marotte.
Members of Local 301 are very much in favour of the evaluation exercise that Serge Lamontagne, the new City Manager, intends to undertake. “We’re in the field every day and know the best practices. We would be proud to support the municipal administration during the evaluation process. We are not simply part of the solution – we are the solution,” added Hans Marotte.
Mayor Valérie Plante and her team seem to want to tackle this case, neglected by her predecessors, in order to finally return responsibility and full management back to the city’s centralized service. This would result in more effective management and allow for the proactive adjustment of internal resources necessary to maintain the ever-expanding network