460,000 pairs of eyes will gather information and rate city’s streets
Action Laval’s interim leader, Achille Cifelli, along with the municipal opposition party’s two elected officials, David De Cotis of Saint-Bruno and Isabelle Piché of Saint-François, have announced the launch of a citizen-led initiative to identify the most damaged streets in Laval – similar to the work of CAA-Québec.
According to a press release issued by Action Laval, “the initiative aims to highlight the state of road infrastructure in order to contribute constructively to the municipal administration’s improvement efforts.”
Citizen reporting
Posted now on the Action Laval website at www.actionlaval.com and on the party’s various social media platforms, the survey invites Laval residents to report streets in poor condition. An explanatory video also accompanies the survey.
“Citizens are best positioned to testify to the reality on the ground,” explained Cifelli. Citizens have until April 30 to complete the form, and the survey results will be compiled and made public in early May.
Supporting solutions
“With this survey, we want to give citizens a voice and gather concrete data to support effective and sustainable solutions,” said Piché.
Action Laval says it is inviting all residents to take part in large numbers to make their voices heard and contribute to better street maintenance in the city.
“We have 460,000 residents in our territory,” noted De Cotis. “That’s 460,000 pairs of eyes to gather information and assess the situation in our city,”
What the city says
On one of the City of Laval’s web pages describing work done to repair potholes and other damage on the municipality’s many streets, the city maintains that its roadways are monitored closely throughout the year for street repair work when necessary.
Regarding pothole repair, the city says it “regularly inspects the condition of roads: Potholes are repaired throughout the year. Repair work intensifies in the weeks following the spring thaw.”
For street maintenance work, the city says two main factors are taken into account when prioritizing work: the level of deterioration of the street section, and the state of disrepair of underground infrastructure (sewers, water mains, etc.).
Combining upgrade projects
“In the interest of sound management of public funds, the city carries out all work requiring excavation and road reconstruction in a single project,” states the city.
When streets are resurfaced, the existing pavement is covered with a new layer of asphalt, the lifespan of which is 5 to 10 years, according to the city. The duration of this type of work is normally around one week on average.
Managing public funds
Regarding road reconstruction, the city says roadways are most often rebuilt during underground infrastructure renewal work, such as sewer and water mains or storm sewers, “in the interest of sound management of public funds.”
Existing pavement is removed to rebuild the base and lay the new pavement. Curbs and sidewalks in poor condition are then repaired or replaced.
The lifespan of new pavement is around 40 years for a neighborhood street, 25 to 30 years for a collector road or artery, with the duration of such work being four to six weeks on average.
