About one in two Quebecers would support the use of tolls on certain roads if it meant better financing to maintain them.
That’s according to a recent Léger poll for the Journal de Montréal.
“I remember back in the day when there were tolls here on the 40, close to Anjou right here. So yeah, I support it. And if the money goes in the right place,” Montreal’s Marie-Josée Côté told CityNews.
“No, because firstly, there is a high risk that the money will be misappropriated, and secondly, we already pay enough taxes in Quebec for it to do the job properly,” countered Anjou resident Jean-Pierre Rioux.
The survey comes as a significant number of potholes can be seen throughout the city, creating stress for drivers as they must avoid the obstacles that can damage their vehicles.
To combat the increasing pothole problem, which city officials are calling “exceptional,” the City of Montreal announced in March $6 million to create two specialized teams focused on road maintenance and the purchase of two new automated road repair machines expected to be put into service next year.
In February, the city awarded 10 privately negotiated contracts — valued at roughly half a million dollars — for pothole repairs. Officials say those agreements allowed crews to patch nearly 15,000 potholes.
From Jan. 1st to April 26, Montreal says it received 13,667 requests to the 311 phone line and mobile app related to potholes. This represents two-and-a-half times more requests compared to the same period last year when there were 5,308 requests. There were even fewer requests — 3,938 — during the same period in 2024.
What’s more, CAA-Québec is reporting it’s provided just under 2,000 blown tire services, many because of potholes, in the Montreal region alone – a 50 per cent increase from last year.
“We’ve been advocating at CAA-Québec for better roads for many years,” said the organization’s public affairs director Nicolas Ryan. “When we look at the whole province, the asset maintenance deficit sits at $24.5 billion. That’s the amount of money needed today just to put our roads to an OK state, not even a good state.
“So we do believe at CAA-Québec it’s time that we have a greater conversation in the whole province. How do we want to do these works? Can we have innovation? Can we do better solutions out there?”
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The pothole situation has left Montrealers scratching their heads.
“This is a big problem in Montreal. I don’t know how they’re going to fix it.,” Marie told CityNews.
“This is the worst situation we have ever seen,” said Bob.
“It’s worse… I never seen that before. It’s everywhere in the city,” added Simone Mercier.
Pavage Montreal, a paving company that was working Monday to repair potholes in a parking lot in Saint-Leonard, says it would like to be part of the solution to repair city roads impacted by potholes.
“The city is doing the best that they could. They can only fill one hole at a time. There’s a lot of damage everywhere,” said director of operations Joey De Michele.
“We’re well equipped and we’re at the service of the city as well if they would need us to help them with the work or as far as equipment.”
