Motorists in Greater Montreal were treated to a calm day on Saturday before the real ordeal began due to work in the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine bridge-tunnel, starting Monday, for the return to the office.
Despite a few incidents on the roads, traffic was rather fluid in Montreal and its surroundings. Quite the opposite of the previous weekend, when a traffic jam of several kilometers surprised more than one Saturday afternoon, on Route 132 near Longueuil.
“People saw what had happened, so they were able to plan their trips more consistently,” said Gilles Payer, spokesperson for the Quebec Ministry of Transport (MTQ).
It is rather in the west of the metropolis where motorists had to take their troubles more patiently, on the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge.
Until Monday morning, repairs to the Chemin des Pins overpass are underway, causing the closure of the A40 east, between Boulevard des Anciens-Combatants and the next exit.
“There’s a detour from the service road. From the moment you have to slow down on the highway, people suddenly brake and cut, which causes a traffic jam that can last. However, this is not new, the work has been there every weekend for a while, ”says Mr. Payer.
In preparation for Monday
On the bridge-tunnel side, MTQ teams are hard at work to be ready for the start of work on Monday.
“They will install nearly 4,000 meters of concrete slides, in addition to erasing the old white marks on the ground, cites the spokesperson as an example. They are also in the process of connecting the new diversion ramps to travel southbound in the other tube. »
“That’s close to 60 hours of continuous work,” he blurts out.
In the direction of Montreal, the works have already been in place since the beginning of the week with two lanes out of three to circulate.
“We saw this week that it was livable. We predicted that the time to reach the entrance to the tunnel could increase up to three times and we did not reach that, or very rarely,” explains Gilles Payer.
The big changes will be more in the direction of the South Shore, while motorists will have a single lane rather than three to drive from Monday.
“Mondays are always quieter since telecommuting is widespread. If Monday is good, beware of Tuesday. Two to three weeks of adaptation are expected. »
