Tuesday 26 June 2012

Catch up Time: Holes in the Streets, Severe Storms and Trying to Make up for Past Mistakes

The photo (from the CBC) shows the latest in a series of holes that have developed in Montreal streets over the past few weeks.

One opened up on Sherbrooke St. in front of McGill University during the massive protest May 22 against raised tuition fees and the anti-demonstratio law Bill 78.  Nobody fell in, thank goodness, but traffic was snarled for a couple of weeks while repairs were done.

Then several other other large holes have showed up in.  One, which came to light June 11, wasn't immediately recognized, since the asphalt near the busy interestion of Peel and Ste Catherine streets appeared to be merely sagging.  But when city crews looked urther they found a huge cavity where part of  a water line dating from 1888 had washed away.  The only thing holding up the roadway was the remnants of trolley tracks.

Montreal neglected renewing its infrastructure for several decades, and now cost of that is being totted up.  The fact that we've had several heavy thunder storms where more water rushed through storm sewers than they could handle hasn't helped any.

Bottom line: you've got to pay for neglect whether it is a manifestation  of denying the need to maintain infrastructure, or--even worse--forgetting that what we're doing to the climate is going to have an impace on us. 

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