I'll just start off by saying that I'm a world traveler. I'll be honest, I haven't driven a car outside of Canada or the United States, but I have spent a considerable amount of time sitting as a passenger in all kinds of places around the world.
Probably the worst roads outside of Montreal were in Cuba, Thailand and Cambodia (which in many places was more like dirt roads). Greece has a lot of bumpy roads too. But last time I checked, Canada is supposed to be a wealthier nation than the above places!
Driving through this city one gets the distinct feeling that they are not in Canada. Perhaps it's a Quebec thing? Our government wishes us to be distinct in every possible way! Sadly, I don't think that having broken roads is something to take pride in.
These days, just about every single road that you drive on is broken somewhere along the way. Someone cleverly named Montreal "Cone-y Island" (please excuse me if I got the spelling wrong, and I'm sorry I can't site the source). This is due to the insane amount of traffic cones in our city. I'd love to know exactly how many cones there are sitting on the streets right now. It must be in the millions.
Most of the time the traffic cones are there for days, or weeks but there is hardly ever anyone working! That is probably one of the biggest concerns, you hardly ever see construction workers actually doing work on the roads! Hardly ever will you see work done at night, except for maybe on the bridges.
It is such a painful experience trying to drive around Montreal. You have to check Google Maps every time you want to leave your house. Even a simple trip to the grocery store could turn out to be a nightmare if all the usual roads you take to get there are now closed! This happens rather frequently!
In N.D.G it feels like every single street is broken. You can't drive at normal speeds, and you can't drive in a straight line. You have to dodge potholes every few feet. Some of these potholes are the size of four medium sized turkeys!
There are often traffic cones surrounding areas that look just fine, where as there is often a complete lack of cones in very dangerous areas. Usually you only get a smooth road if you are on the highway. Which makes sense, since hitting a pothole while driving over 100 km/per hour could result in horrible accidents.
Currently in N.D.G all of the routes into the neighbourhood are under construction. One of the old routes will remain closed until 2020 (this was the main exit at St. Jacques from autoroute 20). Now if you are heading to that area from the western parts of the city you have to exit the highway a few kilometres earlier and navigate horrific roads full of traffic and potholes.
There are rarely any signs warning you that certain streets are closed or under severe construction. This morning I made the fatal error of not checking Google Maps before leaving my house. I took Decarie (almost always a mistake) and got off at the Queen Mary/Cote St. Luc exit. I then got to sit in stagnant traffic for 20 minutes because two out of the three lanes on the service road were closed. For construction. This time there were at least people working!
I'll be providing pictures soon, just to really show how absolutely horrific it is trying to drive through this city. But for now, I'll just say one final thing.
I spent five days in Toronto this past summer. My boyfriend and I drove all around the suburbs and downtown area. We really did a good tour of the city in our car. Guess what? Hardly any traffic cones, hardly any roads closed, hardly any potholes. It was actually kind of shocking. To be in a car that isn't constantly making loud thumping sounds as you hit bumps and holes constantly. To be able to get from point A to point B without being diverted all around the city due to road closures. To not have to plan your own detour to avoid construction. To not have to rely on Google Maps for simple trips. I have to hand it to Toronto, they have GREAT roads!!! If any Torontonian wishes to bitch about their horrible roads, I encourage them to try spending the weekend driving around Montreal!
Probably the worst roads outside of Montreal were in Cuba, Thailand and Cambodia (which in many places was more like dirt roads). Greece has a lot of bumpy roads too. But last time I checked, Canada is supposed to be a wealthier nation than the above places!
Driving through this city one gets the distinct feeling that they are not in Canada. Perhaps it's a Quebec thing? Our government wishes us to be distinct in every possible way! Sadly, I don't think that having broken roads is something to take pride in.
These days, just about every single road that you drive on is broken somewhere along the way. Someone cleverly named Montreal "Cone-y Island" (please excuse me if I got the spelling wrong, and I'm sorry I can't site the source). This is due to the insane amount of traffic cones in our city. I'd love to know exactly how many cones there are sitting on the streets right now. It must be in the millions.
Most of the time the traffic cones are there for days, or weeks but there is hardly ever anyone working! That is probably one of the biggest concerns, you hardly ever see construction workers actually doing work on the roads! Hardly ever will you see work done at night, except for maybe on the bridges.
It is such a painful experience trying to drive around Montreal. You have to check Google Maps every time you want to leave your house. Even a simple trip to the grocery store could turn out to be a nightmare if all the usual roads you take to get there are now closed! This happens rather frequently!
In N.D.G it feels like every single street is broken. You can't drive at normal speeds, and you can't drive in a straight line. You have to dodge potholes every few feet. Some of these potholes are the size of four medium sized turkeys!
There are often traffic cones surrounding areas that look just fine, where as there is often a complete lack of cones in very dangerous areas. Usually you only get a smooth road if you are on the highway. Which makes sense, since hitting a pothole while driving over 100 km/per hour could result in horrible accidents.
Currently in N.D.G all of the routes into the neighbourhood are under construction. One of the old routes will remain closed until 2020 (this was the main exit at St. Jacques from autoroute 20). Now if you are heading to that area from the western parts of the city you have to exit the highway a few kilometres earlier and navigate horrific roads full of traffic and potholes.
There are rarely any signs warning you that certain streets are closed or under severe construction. This morning I made the fatal error of not checking Google Maps before leaving my house. I took Decarie (almost always a mistake) and got off at the Queen Mary/Cote St. Luc exit. I then got to sit in stagnant traffic for 20 minutes because two out of the three lanes on the service road were closed. For construction. This time there were at least people working!
I'll be providing pictures soon, just to really show how absolutely horrific it is trying to drive through this city. But for now, I'll just say one final thing.
I spent five days in Toronto this past summer. My boyfriend and I drove all around the suburbs and downtown area. We really did a good tour of the city in our car. Guess what? Hardly any traffic cones, hardly any roads closed, hardly any potholes. It was actually kind of shocking. To be in a car that isn't constantly making loud thumping sounds as you hit bumps and holes constantly. To be able to get from point A to point B without being diverted all around the city due to road closures. To not have to plan your own detour to avoid construction. To not have to rely on Google Maps for simple trips. I have to hand it to Toronto, they have GREAT roads!!! If any Torontonian wishes to bitch about their horrible roads, I encourage them to try spending the weekend driving around Montreal!
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