Quebec construction sites have gone quiet. Here are the big ones
Work sites right across province have fallen dormant after 175,000 unionized employees lay down tools
Montreal — a city where jackhammers and orange cones seem to be around every corner — was unusually quiet on Wednesday after 175,000 construction workers walked off the job.
An alliance of construction unions failed to reach any agreement with negotiators for construction companies ahead of Tuesday's midnight strike deadline.
The Quebec government urged a swift resolution to the labour conflict and has threatened to introduce back-to-work legislation.
Lionel Perez, the Montreal executive committee member responsible for infrastructure, said roughly 60 city projects have ground to a halt.
Here are some of the big projects (and a few small ones) around Montreal affected by the strike.
New Champlain Bridge
The new Champlain Bridge, replacing the most-used bridge in the country, is slated to be finished by late 2018.
The consortium building the new $4.3-billion structure said activity will resume when more than 600 employees on the bridge and nearby highway approaches return to work.
"It is too early to say what any potential impact might be (but) we are closely monitoring the situation,'' said spokesperson Véronique Richard-Charrier.
Turcot Interchange
Many construction woes in Montreal can be attributed to the rebuilding of the Turcot Interchange.
According to the KPH-Turcot Consortium, approximately 300,000 vehicles use the interchange daily. At the end of April 2017, the consortium said the project was 40 per cent complete.
The new structure is supposed to be ready by the fall of 2020.
CHUM hospital
Construction of the CHUM superhospital has already been delayed from its original completion date of spring 2016.
The first patients are expected to transferred to the new hospital late this year or in early 2018.
Formula E
Montreal will play host in July to the final two races of Formula E's 2016-17 season.
The series features fully electric cars that can reach speeds up to 225 kilometres per hour.
The races will take place on city streets around the east end of the city's Ville-Marie borough.
Montreal's executive committee approved two contracts worth a total of $16.5 million to set up a track for the Formula E electric car racing circuit.
Streets (plenty of them) under construction
There are dozens of streets, big and small, being dug up around the city.
Here are a few of the key ones: Bishop Street, Notre-Dame Street, Atwater Street, Dr. Penfield Avenue, Sherbrooke Street, Peel Street and Prince Arthur Street.
Earlier this year, merchants on Bishop Street announced they are taking the city and Montreal's public transit agency, the STM, to court over the economic impact of infrastructure work that's expected to continue for another three years.
Ivanhoe Cambridge, the real-estate subsidiary of the Caisse de depot, said work has stopped on its Montreal projects, including the new Manulife tower and the overhaul of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, along with work in Quebec City and Sherbrooke.
with files from The Canadian Press