Motorists in the west of the island are going to taste it

Matthew Payen

Friday, 1 September 2017 22:42

UPDATE
Friday, 1 September 2017 22:42

Look at this article

Some 150,000 drivers who circulate every day between the city centre and the west of the island of Montreal will be the most affected by multiple construction projects that impede the circulation this fall.

“The east-west axis is the biggest point of tension,” acknowledges Sarah Bensadoun, spokesman for the ministry of Transportation (MTQ). But it would have been weird to see the recovery work in 2018, since it is a legacy of Québec for the 375th. “

As shown in the map above, the motorists will run this fall on a construction site almost uninterrupted between the heat exchanger and Saint-Pierre and the city centre.

In the coming weeks, the mégachantier of the Turcot interchange will enter into a critical phase, as announced in The Newspaper on Thursday.

The highway 720 will be closed in the westbound direction and highway 20 will be reconstructed between Angrignon and the heart of the heat exchanger.

In addition, further to the west, the heat exchanger St-Pierre will undergo partial closures and complete for performing maintenance of the structure.

Finally, the A-720 will experience closures due to the recovery of the Ville-Marie expressway to the city centre.

No GPS

In addition to this sector, the highway 25 and tunnel Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine will also be monitored. Due to the many closures of lanes and the heavy traffic flow at peak hours in this area, many police officers will be added to the intersections to make traffic flow more smoothly, announced on Friday that the MTQ.

The department is also announcing a massive information campaign to prevent the road users of the closures of the ways of the future, and deviations proposed.

“We ask the drivers not to trust their GPS, but follow our information accessible on our websites, in the media or on signs,” insists Ms. Bensadoun.

Mitigation

To avoid chaos, the MTQ is also called the population to use public transport. “People should understand that if they choose to take the car, they have big chances to get stuck in several places,” said Ms. Bensadoun.

The ministry is also planning the addition of buses on the network, hov lanes, subway trains at peak hours, free valet parking or parking spaces as an incentive.

For example, the hov lane on the Champlain bridge will be extended by 30 minutes every morning.

The cost of these mitigation measures is assessed by the MTQ to 47.8 M$.

Detour by Verdun rather than Côte-Saint-Luc

The consortium responsible for the construction Turcot held Friday to clarify that the passage in Verdun is the detour privileged when the junction linking the A-15 North and the A-20 West will be closed.

Approximately 2000 drivers go to work each day this ramp during peak hours. As early as mid-September and for eight weeks, they will have the choice of back to the A-15 North until you reach chemin de la Côte-Saint-Luc, and then back down or take the exit 62 towards the boulevard De La Verendrye in Verdun.

“What are the options for the most optimal found by our engineers because motorists will not be in residential areas “, said Sylvie Gervais, director in maintaining the mobility of the consortium KPH Turcot.

It notes, however, that the option of the chemin de la Côte-Saint-Luc is not ideal because there is often congestion at this location.

It also ensures that, for the residents of Verdun, information meetings will be held to take stock of the situation and the expected impact.

It was impossible to speak to the mayor of Verdun on Friday.