By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

The City of Montreal started major roadwork Monday on Van Horne west of Décarie that will impact traffic for drivers in CDN-NDG and the neighbouring cities of Côte St. Luc and Hampstead for several months.

The work is being done to modify and make additions to the underground electrical conduits of the Van Horne sector between Décarie and Macdonald.

The work will take place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily and last until May 21. During Phase 1, the Van Horne westbound lanes are blocked between Coolbrook and Macdonald. Detours will be through Coolbrook, Plamondon and Macdonald. During Phase 2, Van Horne eastbound lanes will be blocked between Macdonald and Coolbrook. Detours are through Macdonald, Plamondon, and Coolbrook.

In general, major work has been done on many streets in the CDN-NDG borough in recent years— sometimes lasting about a month on smaller streets and having an impact on parking for area residents.

Traffic expert Rick Leckner sent an email Sunday to CSL Mayor Mitchell Brownstein, Hampstead Mayor Jeremy Levi, CSL councillor Dida Berku and CDN-NDG councillor Sonny Moroz expressing his concerns and making suggestions.

“The year is not starting off well for area residents,” he wrote. “What mitigation measures, if any, will be in place to deal with this almost five-month serious traffic issue? Parking must be removed from Plamondon and Vezina for the duration. Has this request been made to the borough or centre city? I assume the SPVM is aware, but they are not always helpful. Public Security in Hampstead has hopefully been alerted.”

Leckner added that “we have seen the highly negative effects of recent work. Here we go again.

“Let us please be proactive.” n