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Montrealers might be thinking the roadwork torture they’re being subjected to will surely come to an end at some point. One day several years from now — poof — the number of construction zones and detours will diminish and most of the city’s streets will be as good as new, right?

Wrong.

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A report produced by Montreal’s civil service in 2016 that has never been presented to the public reveals that even if the city immediately nearly tripled its total annual investment in major repairs and reconstruction of its road, water and sewer networks, the sustained massive spending increase would end Montreal’s roadwork maintenance “deficit” only around 2040.

And that was the optimistic scenario presented in the 103-page document, which the Montreal Gazette obtained through an access-to-information request.

The other, apocalyptic scenario predicted the city would pretty much never catch up on necessary work on roads and most other infrastructure if it continued to invest annually at the same level as it had for years up to that point.