I would like to share with readers of my blog the response our mayor gave to Ben Merson, a resident of the city since 1955 who wrote to complain about the road surface condition of Cavendish Blvd., between Mackle and Cavendish. Here is what Mayor Housefather said:
"I agree with your comments about the stretch of Cavendish between Mackle and Collins. Unfortunately, as I have communicated in our newsletters and recently in a letter to residents of Cote Saint-Luc when I spoke of the agglomeration reforms, this stretch of road in not under the jurisdiction of Cote Saint-Luc as relates to reconstruction of the road.
"Since we were merged into Montreal in 2001 there has been a concept of arterial roads. This continued after demerger. During the years we were part of Montreal these roads were the responsibility of the central city and not the borough and since demerger they have been the responsibility of the regional level of government (the agglomeration) and not your local city. CSL has 2 arterial roads (CSL Road and Cavendish). Thus we are allowed to do some things on arterial roads, we are responsible for clearing snow, traffic conditions (we can install the synchronized lights for example) but we can not do construction on the road itself. We advised Montreal many times that this stretch should be prioritized without success.
"As per the letter I sent to you, the Quebec legislature recently adopted Bill 22 which reformed the agglo. These changes only come into force on January 1, 2009. In addition to keeping EMS, having only one tax bill to CSL and other improvements, the arterial roads go back to the control of local cities. As such, next year this road can be on our list to repair but we can not do so this year."
