Bridge work around Montreal will continue throughout the summer

The Bonaventure Expressway will be partially closed this spring, summer and fall, and traffic will be slowed and rerouted during those times.

Author of the article:

Jason Magder • Montreal Gazette

Posted on April 11, 2024 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 2 minutes of reading

The bulk of the planned work will focus on Bonaventure, and the roundabouts and night and weekend closures will continue until at least November. Often, the expressway will be two lanes in each direction instead of three between downtown and the Champlain Bridge. Photo by Dave Sideway /Montreal Gazette

It's going to be a busy spring, summer and fall for commuters traveling between downtown and Nunes Island as crews work hard on various parts of the Bonaventure Expressway.

Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc., the Crown corporation that operates many structures on the Island. held its annual briefing on Thursday to reveal its schedule for the construction season.

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Content of the article

The bulk of the work will be focused on Bonaventure and the roundabouts and night and weekend closures will continue until at least November. The speed limit on the expressway will be reduced from the current 70 km/h to 50 km/h. Often, the expressway will be two lanes in each direction instead of three between downtown and the Champlain Bridge.

The biggest impact will be the closure of one side of the Champlain Expressway at Exit 4. Repairs to the Clément Bridge will require light and truck traffic to be diverted to Boulevard Gaetan-Laberge, where there will be two lanes of traffic. direction. The closure lasts for 52 days from June to August.

After that, one of the two lanes at Clement Bridge will be closed for 75 days from August to November, along with the Monk Island entrances to the city center expressway for the same period.

There will also be work on the expressway's elevated lanes near the Victoria Bridge, which will require the closure of Exit 3 toward the Champlain Bridge for three months.

This work is necessary to extend the service life of the expressway. Bonaventure should be completely renovated into a city boulevard with water access. This work is expected to start in 2025 and last four years.

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Thursday's news is good for motorists, but bad for cyclists using the Jacques-Cartier Bridge. No main lanes are expected to be closed to cars on the bridge this year, but the pedestrian walkway will be completely closed, forcing pedestrians to share the multi-use path on the other side of the bridge with cyclists and other active traffic users. The bridge authority does not anticipate a large backlog. The closure is necessary to shore up the Île Ste-Hélène pavilion, which is the entrance to Parc Jean-Drapeau on the Montreal-facing side of the bridge.

Crews will also demolish the former toll booth on the bridge, but that will not affect traffic.

As for the Mercier Bridge, there will be some overnight closures, but no major work is planned.

The Bridge Authority also gave an update on the deconstruction of the Champlain Bridge. The $400 million project to remove the bridge's structures finished two months ahead of schedule, and while some work remains, the project is expected to stay on schedule.

With the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore fresh in the minds of Montrealers, the corporation assured the public that structures around the island were built to prevent ship collisions. The structures are built with the seaway in mind, so there are no piers that come out of the water for shipping.

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