McGill Tribune

Students leaving class for OAP last Thursday saw Montreal’s version of Niagra Falls when a burst water main on Docteur Penfield sent torrents of water down McTavish and into downtown Montreal (News: “McTavish Under Water,” p. 3). While many students enjoyed frolicking in Le Fleuve McTavish, the flood is symptomatic of Montreal’s crumbling infrastructure, and caused the Tribune to run for cover while others ran for their bathing suits.

On July 31, a 15-tonne slab of concrete fell in the Ville Marie Tunnel. Similarly, on Sept. 8, a 20 by 30 centimetre chunk of concrete fell from an overpass in Sainte Julie on Montreal’s South Shore. Fortunately, no one was injured in either incident. The Champlain Bridge—one of the most trafficked bridges in Canada—has the structural integrity of a wet cracker and is at risk of collapse. Recent reports on the bridge indicate that short-term maintenance could cost taxpayers as much as $25 million per year. This is all occurring in a city in which taxpayers also pay millions every year to keep the Olympic Stadium from collapsing.

The Quebec transport ministry has yet to release over 500 infrastructural reports which it promised to release after the Ville Marie Tunnel incident. As reported in the Montreal Gazette, the reports have been withheld, despite frequent probes by the media. Wikileaks may be in order.

While the layperson may not be able to appropriately interpret these reports, Montrealers should be aware of the dangers they may face daily.  Whether the release of these documents will incite panic remains to be seen. Accidents do happen, but withholding critical engineering reports from the public will make it impossible not to blame the city when the next tragedy strikes.

The fiscal costs of band-aid solutions to city-wide, chronic infrastructure problems are beyond imagineable, and the Tribune hopes that the municipal government has budgeted for repairing frequent bridge and tunnel collapses. While last Thursday’s flood was an entertaining diversion, McGill was lucky to escape without permanent damage. The city of Montreal, and its citizens, may not be so lucky.

The Tribune advocates for the immediate release of the engineering reports.  Though the money isn’t available yet for the repairs, releasing the reports is a step in the right direction.