I've been driving in Montreal now for 7 years. I have also driven in this city for an additional four years with my learner's permit. So I know these roads pretty well, and am very familiar with the driving style here.
First we will start off with the condition of the roads. Hell. Plain and simple. Possibly due to ongoing corruption in this city, the condition and safety of these roads has gotten significantly worse over the years.
For starters there are bridges that are on the verge of collapsing. There have been many studies on the condition of the bridges and most of them say that they need a complete overhaul in order to meet safety standards. One problem is that some of our major bridges are federally owned. This means that Montreal can sit back and wait to get money from Ottawa before making any repairs. I don't know how the politics work, but from what I understand it takes a while to sort out who pays for what. In the meantime, nothing happens and the bridges continue to deteriorate. There is actually a Wikipedia article on the Jaques Cartier Bridge that mentions how it is deteriorating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cartier_Bridge.
As you drive through the city you will see many overpasses and bridges that are in horrible condition. There have been many incidents of pieces falling off and hitting cars. You can read this Maclean's magazine article if you'd like to learn more. http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/08/23/montreal-is-falling-down/ I don't know how many people have been injured or killed from falling debris on our roads, but it is definitely something to be concerned about.
Next you need to be aware of the pothole situation. Now, every city has it's issues and I'm sure nowhere in the world has perfect roads. However, in a first world city it is absolutely abominable how many potholes there are and how big they are, how uneven and rough the streets are, and just the generally terrible condition they are in. This winter a man drove into a pothole that was so deep it flipped his car! http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2013/03/11/quebec-massive-pothole-car-flips-kirkland.html. Generally what happens is that the city will just patch up potholes rather than resurface the whole street. Then if there is a water main problem the company that deals with it will just dig up a section of the street and then do a cheap patch up job after. Then in the winter the whole mess freezes. Ice penetrates all the cracks and causes it to expand so that in Spring you end up with holes everywhere. Pardon my lack of scientific knowledge, I'm not sure I've explained that properly, but it is true that each Spring the potholes are worse than ever.
It is very difficult trying to navigate through the city in a normal, or compact car without worrying about damaging the car's suspension. An even greater threat to damaging your car of course, is the possibility of simply losing your car (and maybe your life too) to a sinkhole! http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Sinkhole+swallows+cars+Trudeau+Airport/8171026/story.html. There have been other incidents of cars going down into sinkholes. Beware!
Ok, so you've familiarized yourself with the falling debris from overpasses and are learning how to navigate around potholes. Now you will have to learn how to cope with the year round construction on the roads. There is a bit of a conspiracy here. You see, there are millions of orange pylons - EVERYWHERE - . I believe they are there to pacify the masses and give them a false sense of security in knowing that work is being done on the roads. That the problem is under control. However 99% of the time you will NOT see ANYBODY working! You won't see anyone there at all. Thousands of roads get blocked off, sending people on ridiculous detours and yet there is absolutely no one working on the roads! The construction industry here has been under investigation for corruption. They have unions and short working hours to begin with. There are hardly ever overnight workers.
I once got stuck at Rockland going around in circles because there were detour signs everywhere and when I'd get to the spot I thought I needed to get to, there was another detour sign and each time I ended up at Rockland. I kind of lost it that night. So frustrating!
The worst thing about detours is that you never know where you will end up! If you don't know the city very well, you can expect to get lost! One night last summer I was driving along the highway and noticed that there was a sign saying that one of the major bridges to get off the island was closed! That was it. There was no detour sign or any message telling you how to get off the island. I felt bad for any American who was visiting the city and didn't know the island very well. Unless they had a GPS or map on hand, it would certainly be a challenge to find their way off the island!
The last thing I'll mention about road conditions is the street signs, or lack there of. The signage in this city is terrible! Many streets are simply missing the signs. Others are covered up with overgrown hedges or trees. The highway signs are all in French, as are the messages telling you about accidents. For instance "congestion" means traffic not phlegm. Ouest means West. Est means East. Having a GPS telling you where to go is also challenging (and humorous!) because many computer programs can't pronounce the streets properly! My phone has a GPS and it pronounces the road Gouin (normally pronounced Gwain - but not really saying the "N" at the end) Ouest (West) goo-een-ooo-ist. It pronounces the road Papineau (normally pronounced Pap-ee-know) Papp-in-eee-uh. Some programs are better than others. I have heard some that can pronounce the names adequately. The street signs are often placed in hard to read spots and are often tiny! Even if your vision is perfect, you will likely be driving past the sign and only realize once you are just past the intersection that that was the road you needed to turn on.
Oh, one more thing, you can't turn right on red here. This is very bothersome for people not from here. At least there is usually a big sign with a turn right arrow with a big red line through it.
Now on to the driving style here. One word. Psychotic. It is possible to have a nervous breakdown each and every day if you have to spend much time driving here. I highly recommend meditative music or Pink Floyd.
Now, what do I mean by psychotic you might ask? Well, I mean dangerous. I mean angry - you know, like road rage? I mean people overdosing on testosterone (if that's even possible). I mean unpredictable (though the unpredictable nature of drivers here IS predictable and so you have a slight advantage in knowing that!). I mean - MEAN, vicious, vindictive, spiteful and BULLYING behavior.
Rule number one, in this city most people have a ME FIRST attitude. Therefore, DO NOT expect any courtesy. What this means, is that when you are at an intersection, even if you were there first, unless you put your foot down on the accelerator HARD and DO NOT actually make a full stop at the stop sign, you can expect everyone else to go before you have the chance. Therefore, you are probably safer to just make a full stop, let all the impatient people go who don't like to take turns (you might find that six or seven people just floor it before you get a chance - many people actually share stop signs so two people will stop at the stop sign and then drive away at the same time). You might need to inch forward across the line to let people know that you do indeed intend to cross the intersection.
The next thing, especially in the suburbs, is that everyone is in a terrible rush! This means that stop signs are more like suggestions. People will slow down for them, but rarely ever actually stop. Therefore if you hit a stop sign and need to turn left and someone is coming towards you on the opposite side and they also have a stop sign, they won't stop at all. They will worry that you will take too long to turn, so they will do a slight slow down and then dramatically speed up before you have the chance to turn. Even if you are there first.
Next up is tail gating. There's lot's of it, and it's very aggressive. If you are in the passing lane on the highway you had better be going really fast. The average speed in the passing lane is 140 km/h. The speed limit is actually 100km/h on most highways, but most people drive 110km. There is extreme bullying behavior in the passing lane on the highway. People will drive right up behind your car - forget that two second distance rule - you could read the writing on their baseball caps they are so close. They will drive ridiculously close to you until you move into the next lane. They'll be flying past you before you are even out of the lane!
At least half of the cars on the road are large pick up trucks, vans and SUV's. Therefore if you are driving a compact vehicle you will feel tiny. So when someone is tail gating you, it's intense!
People also cut each other off in traffic all the time. If you need to be in the left lane in traffic on the highway to get off at the next exit and the lane isn't moving but the lane beside you is, then people will go into the next lane and then drive to the front of the queue of traffic and cut in! Hundreds of people do this so it takes even longer to get off at the exit.
They also weave in and out of lanes without warning. People in this city HARDLY EVER use their indicators! I'm not exaggerating or joking in any way. So if you are in rush hour traffic and leave more than an inch of space between your car and the car in front of you, you can expect some weasel to squeeze in.
Merging onto the highway is another challenge. Much in the same way that people share stop signs, people also try to merge in groups. They don't seem to like the concept of one car at a time. So the result is that if a person lets you in, they will give you only JUST the exact amount of space into which your car will fit. Not an inch more, otherwise the car behind will think it's a free for all and he'll squeeze in too! I'm ashamed to admit, that I am now guilty of this too. Much as I hate driving really close to the person in front of me, I hate having 3 or 4 cars try to merge in front of me at once. I'm happy to let one person in, maybe two. But that's it. So I'll give them a car length worth of space and that's it. Then I accelerate and close the gap immediately so that the front end of my car is almost touching the bumper of the car in front of me!
People will also just suddenly stop their car without warning. Right in the middle of the road. Not on highways or major roads, but on smaller streets. I guess if their phone rings they just instinctively stop the car. They don't turn on their signal either. So you then have to drive around them. It's a lot like walking in the shopping center and people just suddenly stop so that they can text.
There is also a lot of parallel parking going on, more downtown than anywhere else. It's really annoying as you'll suddenly pull up behind someone who is parallel parked and realize that they aren't moving and then you can't get around them because there's too much traffic in the next lane, and believe me, no one will let you cut in. No, you'll have to wait until everyone else has gone.
On busy streets like Sherbrooke and Queen Mary it's very tricky to make a left hand turn as there is a lot of on coming traffic. Sometimes you'll be lucky and there will be a flashing left arrow allowing you to turn. Most of the time though you just have to stop and wait for a gap in the traffic to be able to safely get across. What is really annoying is if you are driving in the left lane and get to a green light and the guy in front of you suddenly stops, without putting on his indicator. You realize that he is wanting to turn left and so you need to go around him if you'd like to make the light. Problem is, before you have even processed this information, ten people behind you who are lightening fast have already switched lanes and are now whizzing past you. Unless you can floor it and manage to squeeze in between all these cars now flying past you will be stuck behind this person, probably until the light turns red.
Driving downtown is very interesting. Especially on St. Catherine's Street. There are a LOT of pedestrians walking along the street at all hours of the day. When you need to turn off of this street, you can't do so easily because pedestrians have the right of way and they don't have a special light to walk. So you have to wait for them. Basically, usually only one car can turn for each light. During rush hour traffic it's even worse. Also, Montrealers are notorious for jay walking. The city has been cracking down on this, but years ago swarms of people would cross on red lights. This must have seriously annoyed drivers, not to mention it's dangerous!
There are also a lot of cyclists. This has gotten worse over the years. There is now a bike program called Bixi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bixi_%28company%29. It's a bicycle sharing program. It's nice to see people getting exercise, and it's great for the environment. The island of Montreal also has an extensive amount of bike paths. My favourite is the one that goes from Pointe Claire to Old Montreal.
Lately I've been having to drive into the city more and have been having to drive around the cyclists. They have every right to be out on the streets, and I take my hat off to them. I feel that on regular streets it's just dangerous! They have to bike in heavy traffic and beside parked cars. It's a narrow space, and if someone in a parked car opens their door without looking and a cyclist is there, then that could be a fatal accident if they are thrown into a moving car! Personally, I don't feel there is enough room for cyclists on the road. But maybe it's just because I'm not used to seeing them, out here in the suburbs the roads are wider and there is more space for them!
The next obstacle you will encounter is taxis! They zig zag all over the road as they talk on their phones, talk to people out of their window, slow down without warning, never use their indicators, drive between two lanes (which many people do in traffic, as they are too scared to pick a lane in case it turns out to be a slower moving one!!!). Taxis will just stop in the middle of the road and you have to drive around them. Most people agree that taxis are horrible. The scary thing is that a lot of the taxi drivers don't even wear seat belts!
An interesting observation. The driving styles vary from neighbourhood to neighbourhood! On Cote Vertu Boulevard people drive the speed limit. I've heard this is due to a heavy police presence. On Cote St. Luc Boulevard they are maniacs! Downtown traffic moves slower and there are a lot of annoyances to contend with, but I find that as a result there isn't a lot of maniacal behavour to contend with. It's hard to act crazy when you can't move! Outside of Montreal people get cocky because they have a false sense of security over the large roads. I know two people who have gotten into serious accidents in the suburbs. One of them turned on a yellow light and an oncoming car crashed into her. Another friend was turning left at a stop sign, the oncoming car also had a stop sign but didn't see it so crashed into her. I've had several close calls. Especially in parking lots of big box stores on the West Island. Across from Fairview for example, there are many stores that share a giant parking lot. Many cars simply fly through it, not following lanes. This means you have to whip your head around in all directions and drive very cautiously.
Well, that about sums up what it's like to drive in Montreal. Though from other people I've spoken to, this sort of behaviour happens everywhere. I think it's more of a big city phenonomen. I haven't driven in any other cities, so have nothing to compare this place to. I just go by what my driver instructor taught me to do. Basically, all the driving rules get broken all the time, so you really do need to be extremely careful!
Good luck to everyone brave enough to drive in Montreal!
First we will start off with the condition of the roads. Hell. Plain and simple. Possibly due to ongoing corruption in this city, the condition and safety of these roads has gotten significantly worse over the years.
For starters there are bridges that are on the verge of collapsing. There have been many studies on the condition of the bridges and most of them say that they need a complete overhaul in order to meet safety standards. One problem is that some of our major bridges are federally owned. This means that Montreal can sit back and wait to get money from Ottawa before making any repairs. I don't know how the politics work, but from what I understand it takes a while to sort out who pays for what. In the meantime, nothing happens and the bridges continue to deteriorate. There is actually a Wikipedia article on the Jaques Cartier Bridge that mentions how it is deteriorating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cartier_Bridge.
As you drive through the city you will see many overpasses and bridges that are in horrible condition. There have been many incidents of pieces falling off and hitting cars. You can read this Maclean's magazine article if you'd like to learn more. http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/08/23/montreal-is-falling-down/ I don't know how many people have been injured or killed from falling debris on our roads, but it is definitely something to be concerned about.
Next you need to be aware of the pothole situation. Now, every city has it's issues and I'm sure nowhere in the world has perfect roads. However, in a first world city it is absolutely abominable how many potholes there are and how big they are, how uneven and rough the streets are, and just the generally terrible condition they are in. This winter a man drove into a pothole that was so deep it flipped his car! http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2013/03/11/quebec-massive-pothole-car-flips-kirkland.html. Generally what happens is that the city will just patch up potholes rather than resurface the whole street. Then if there is a water main problem the company that deals with it will just dig up a section of the street and then do a cheap patch up job after. Then in the winter the whole mess freezes. Ice penetrates all the cracks and causes it to expand so that in Spring you end up with holes everywhere. Pardon my lack of scientific knowledge, I'm not sure I've explained that properly, but it is true that each Spring the potholes are worse than ever.
It is very difficult trying to navigate through the city in a normal, or compact car without worrying about damaging the car's suspension. An even greater threat to damaging your car of course, is the possibility of simply losing your car (and maybe your life too) to a sinkhole! http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Sinkhole+swallows+cars+Trudeau+Airport/8171026/story.html. There have been other incidents of cars going down into sinkholes. Beware!
Ok, so you've familiarized yourself with the falling debris from overpasses and are learning how to navigate around potholes. Now you will have to learn how to cope with the year round construction on the roads. There is a bit of a conspiracy here. You see, there are millions of orange pylons - EVERYWHERE - . I believe they are there to pacify the masses and give them a false sense of security in knowing that work is being done on the roads. That the problem is under control. However 99% of the time you will NOT see ANYBODY working! You won't see anyone there at all. Thousands of roads get blocked off, sending people on ridiculous detours and yet there is absolutely no one working on the roads! The construction industry here has been under investigation for corruption. They have unions and short working hours to begin with. There are hardly ever overnight workers.
I once got stuck at Rockland going around in circles because there were detour signs everywhere and when I'd get to the spot I thought I needed to get to, there was another detour sign and each time I ended up at Rockland. I kind of lost it that night. So frustrating!
The worst thing about detours is that you never know where you will end up! If you don't know the city very well, you can expect to get lost! One night last summer I was driving along the highway and noticed that there was a sign saying that one of the major bridges to get off the island was closed! That was it. There was no detour sign or any message telling you how to get off the island. I felt bad for any American who was visiting the city and didn't know the island very well. Unless they had a GPS or map on hand, it would certainly be a challenge to find their way off the island!
The last thing I'll mention about road conditions is the street signs, or lack there of. The signage in this city is terrible! Many streets are simply missing the signs. Others are covered up with overgrown hedges or trees. The highway signs are all in French, as are the messages telling you about accidents. For instance "congestion" means traffic not phlegm. Ouest means West. Est means East. Having a GPS telling you where to go is also challenging (and humorous!) because many computer programs can't pronounce the streets properly! My phone has a GPS and it pronounces the road Gouin (normally pronounced Gwain - but not really saying the "N" at the end) Ouest (West) goo-een-ooo-ist. It pronounces the road Papineau (normally pronounced Pap-ee-know) Papp-in-eee-uh. Some programs are better than others. I have heard some that can pronounce the names adequately. The street signs are often placed in hard to read spots and are often tiny! Even if your vision is perfect, you will likely be driving past the sign and only realize once you are just past the intersection that that was the road you needed to turn on.
Oh, one more thing, you can't turn right on red here. This is very bothersome for people not from here. At least there is usually a big sign with a turn right arrow with a big red line through it.
Now on to the driving style here. One word. Psychotic. It is possible to have a nervous breakdown each and every day if you have to spend much time driving here. I highly recommend meditative music or Pink Floyd.
Now, what do I mean by psychotic you might ask? Well, I mean dangerous. I mean angry - you know, like road rage? I mean people overdosing on testosterone (if that's even possible). I mean unpredictable (though the unpredictable nature of drivers here IS predictable and so you have a slight advantage in knowing that!). I mean - MEAN, vicious, vindictive, spiteful and BULLYING behavior.
Rule number one, in this city most people have a ME FIRST attitude. Therefore, DO NOT expect any courtesy. What this means, is that when you are at an intersection, even if you were there first, unless you put your foot down on the accelerator HARD and DO NOT actually make a full stop at the stop sign, you can expect everyone else to go before you have the chance. Therefore, you are probably safer to just make a full stop, let all the impatient people go who don't like to take turns (you might find that six or seven people just floor it before you get a chance - many people actually share stop signs so two people will stop at the stop sign and then drive away at the same time). You might need to inch forward across the line to let people know that you do indeed intend to cross the intersection.
The next thing, especially in the suburbs, is that everyone is in a terrible rush! This means that stop signs are more like suggestions. People will slow down for them, but rarely ever actually stop. Therefore if you hit a stop sign and need to turn left and someone is coming towards you on the opposite side and they also have a stop sign, they won't stop at all. They will worry that you will take too long to turn, so they will do a slight slow down and then dramatically speed up before you have the chance to turn. Even if you are there first.
Next up is tail gating. There's lot's of it, and it's very aggressive. If you are in the passing lane on the highway you had better be going really fast. The average speed in the passing lane is 140 km/h. The speed limit is actually 100km/h on most highways, but most people drive 110km. There is extreme bullying behavior in the passing lane on the highway. People will drive right up behind your car - forget that two second distance rule - you could read the writing on their baseball caps they are so close. They will drive ridiculously close to you until you move into the next lane. They'll be flying past you before you are even out of the lane!
At least half of the cars on the road are large pick up trucks, vans and SUV's. Therefore if you are driving a compact vehicle you will feel tiny. So when someone is tail gating you, it's intense!
People also cut each other off in traffic all the time. If you need to be in the left lane in traffic on the highway to get off at the next exit and the lane isn't moving but the lane beside you is, then people will go into the next lane and then drive to the front of the queue of traffic and cut in! Hundreds of people do this so it takes even longer to get off at the exit.
They also weave in and out of lanes without warning. People in this city HARDLY EVER use their indicators! I'm not exaggerating or joking in any way. So if you are in rush hour traffic and leave more than an inch of space between your car and the car in front of you, you can expect some weasel to squeeze in.
Merging onto the highway is another challenge. Much in the same way that people share stop signs, people also try to merge in groups. They don't seem to like the concept of one car at a time. So the result is that if a person lets you in, they will give you only JUST the exact amount of space into which your car will fit. Not an inch more, otherwise the car behind will think it's a free for all and he'll squeeze in too! I'm ashamed to admit, that I am now guilty of this too. Much as I hate driving really close to the person in front of me, I hate having 3 or 4 cars try to merge in front of me at once. I'm happy to let one person in, maybe two. But that's it. So I'll give them a car length worth of space and that's it. Then I accelerate and close the gap immediately so that the front end of my car is almost touching the bumper of the car in front of me!
People will also just suddenly stop their car without warning. Right in the middle of the road. Not on highways or major roads, but on smaller streets. I guess if their phone rings they just instinctively stop the car. They don't turn on their signal either. So you then have to drive around them. It's a lot like walking in the shopping center and people just suddenly stop so that they can text.
There is also a lot of parallel parking going on, more downtown than anywhere else. It's really annoying as you'll suddenly pull up behind someone who is parallel parked and realize that they aren't moving and then you can't get around them because there's too much traffic in the next lane, and believe me, no one will let you cut in. No, you'll have to wait until everyone else has gone.
On busy streets like Sherbrooke and Queen Mary it's very tricky to make a left hand turn as there is a lot of on coming traffic. Sometimes you'll be lucky and there will be a flashing left arrow allowing you to turn. Most of the time though you just have to stop and wait for a gap in the traffic to be able to safely get across. What is really annoying is if you are driving in the left lane and get to a green light and the guy in front of you suddenly stops, without putting on his indicator. You realize that he is wanting to turn left and so you need to go around him if you'd like to make the light. Problem is, before you have even processed this information, ten people behind you who are lightening fast have already switched lanes and are now whizzing past you. Unless you can floor it and manage to squeeze in between all these cars now flying past you will be stuck behind this person, probably until the light turns red.
Driving downtown is very interesting. Especially on St. Catherine's Street. There are a LOT of pedestrians walking along the street at all hours of the day. When you need to turn off of this street, you can't do so easily because pedestrians have the right of way and they don't have a special light to walk. So you have to wait for them. Basically, usually only one car can turn for each light. During rush hour traffic it's even worse. Also, Montrealers are notorious for jay walking. The city has been cracking down on this, but years ago swarms of people would cross on red lights. This must have seriously annoyed drivers, not to mention it's dangerous!
There are also a lot of cyclists. This has gotten worse over the years. There is now a bike program called Bixi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bixi_%28company%29. It's a bicycle sharing program. It's nice to see people getting exercise, and it's great for the environment. The island of Montreal also has an extensive amount of bike paths. My favourite is the one that goes from Pointe Claire to Old Montreal.
Lately I've been having to drive into the city more and have been having to drive around the cyclists. They have every right to be out on the streets, and I take my hat off to them. I feel that on regular streets it's just dangerous! They have to bike in heavy traffic and beside parked cars. It's a narrow space, and if someone in a parked car opens their door without looking and a cyclist is there, then that could be a fatal accident if they are thrown into a moving car! Personally, I don't feel there is enough room for cyclists on the road. But maybe it's just because I'm not used to seeing them, out here in the suburbs the roads are wider and there is more space for them!
The next obstacle you will encounter is taxis! They zig zag all over the road as they talk on their phones, talk to people out of their window, slow down without warning, never use their indicators, drive between two lanes (which many people do in traffic, as they are too scared to pick a lane in case it turns out to be a slower moving one!!!). Taxis will just stop in the middle of the road and you have to drive around them. Most people agree that taxis are horrible. The scary thing is that a lot of the taxi drivers don't even wear seat belts!
An interesting observation. The driving styles vary from neighbourhood to neighbourhood! On Cote Vertu Boulevard people drive the speed limit. I've heard this is due to a heavy police presence. On Cote St. Luc Boulevard they are maniacs! Downtown traffic moves slower and there are a lot of annoyances to contend with, but I find that as a result there isn't a lot of maniacal behavour to contend with. It's hard to act crazy when you can't move! Outside of Montreal people get cocky because they have a false sense of security over the large roads. I know two people who have gotten into serious accidents in the suburbs. One of them turned on a yellow light and an oncoming car crashed into her. Another friend was turning left at a stop sign, the oncoming car also had a stop sign but didn't see it so crashed into her. I've had several close calls. Especially in parking lots of big box stores on the West Island. Across from Fairview for example, there are many stores that share a giant parking lot. Many cars simply fly through it, not following lanes. This means you have to whip your head around in all directions and drive very cautiously.
Well, that about sums up what it's like to drive in Montreal. Though from other people I've spoken to, this sort of behaviour happens everywhere. I think it's more of a big city phenonomen. I haven't driven in any other cities, so have nothing to compare this place to. I just go by what my driver instructor taught me to do. Basically, all the driving rules get broken all the time, so you really do need to be extremely careful!
Good luck to everyone brave enough to drive in Montreal!
