Waltham speed reduction request on highway 148; refused by MTQ

Waltham speed reduction request on highway 148; refused by MTQ

The Mayor of the municipality of Waltham, David Rochon, confirmed in an interview that the municipality’s request for a speed reduction on highway 148 had been denied by the Ministère des Transports du Quebec (MTQ). Next Wednesday, a meeting will be held between the municipality and the MTQ to discuss this refusal.

In July 2019, the municipality of Waltham sent a request to the MTQ to reduce the speed on highway 148 from 90km/h to 80km/h. In their request, the municipality expressed the safety concerns and made the request as a way to open up the possibility of ATVs to use the highway as a crossing between the Davidson sector of the municipality of Mansfield and Waltham.

The MAMH offered to intercede or reflect on the pros and cons and go beyond a ministry vision and therefore see the issues more generally.

The MRC Pontiac has also undertaken certain procedures to support Waltham in its application. The Council of Mayors adopted a resolution requesting the support of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing in its efforts in November and another was adopted in December to ask the MTQ to study the various possible solutions. The director of economic development of the MRC, Danielle Newman, also raised the issue in person at the Regional Economic Administrative Conference, which was attended by several provincial ministries, including the MTQ and the MAMH. The MRC is now awaiting news from the MTQ to find out about the next steps in this project.

More details on this file will be available soon.