By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

You see them from afar, often sitting idle and not a human being seen nearby — never mind wielding a saw, tractor or shovel. So why do the cones come out on holidays, weekends, or inactive periods?

Well, it’s not likely to see them on the highway, and if you have it’s probably because work was halted for a short period, says Transports Québec spokesperson Sarah Bensadoun. “We don’t close sites and we don’t take vacations,” she told The Suburban, adding when work is completed, all signage elements are removed.

Where the city is concerned that is, on city roads, sidewalks and service roads, site management is a priority, city spokesperson Guillaume Rivest told The Suburban.

To clarify, all permits require that occupation of public domain cannot be done more than 24 hours before the start of work, he says, but road construction sites (civil engineering) are mainly maintained during construction holidays and continue to be subject to sustained audits.

(Last year, the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal reported in a landmark study that only 73% of existing traffic cones and signs actually serve active sites and is already overkill due to faulty signage rules.)

“We conducted an awareness blitz before the construction holidays to ensure the cooperation of contractors who were going to cease their activities for the two weeks,” says Rivest. “We advised them to eliminate or minimize obstruction on public property, as well as to ensure the safety and cleanliness of their site.” During this year’s construction holiday, city teams conducted 2,782 interventions, seizing 1,514 signalling elements (cones, signs, etc.) and 300 sites were demobilized.

Cones are typically installed in accordance with signage plans signed and sealed by an engineer to indicate the presence of construction sites and ensure safe travel. The number of cones used depends on the size and complexity of traffic maintenance concepts. Montreal’s Mobility Squad, which patrols seven days a week, as well as project teams, in the case of the city, ensures that signage on construction sites complies with what is planned and can request that it be moved when incorrectly positioned. Borough teams also conduct patrols for this purpose.

For major projects, contractors are required to remove the signage from the public domain no later than 72 hours after the end of the work, if there is no work planned within the next five days. “Failing this, the city reserves the right to do so at the expense of the occupant, in addition to the issuance of a penalty.”

Do you see an inactive site? Cones hanging around? Call 311

Check out Montreal’s interactive site map: https://services.montreal.ca/cartes/entraves/OCC-2404VI14536683

For Transports Quebec issues contact 511 n