AT LAST! THE EMBARRASSMENT OF THE ‘RAMP TO NOWHERE’ ENDS

It was a costly, delayed project that really should have been planned and completed in conjunction with the transfer of international overseas flights from Mirabel to Dorval about 20 years ago. That being said, Dorval residents, West Islanders, Montrealers and Quebecers in general should be pleased that the new westbound Highway 20 ramp to Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport finally had its official inauguration on Monday morning. The new overpass ramp provides a direct road link — over the rail tracks — between Highway 20 and the airport. Previously, Highway 20 traffic heading to the airport had to pass through the Dorval Circle, which is governed by traffic lights and is home to a VIA passenger station and a commuter bus terminal on its north side and a link to Dorval Ave. and a commercial zone on the south side. Not complicated at all for a major gateway to Montreal as well as an access point to an international airport that has more than 200,000 landings and takeoffs and 16 million passengers per year. While this infrastructure work should have been realized around the same time international flights were transferred to Dorval from Mirabel in 1997, the announcement for the Dorval ramp project didn’t happen until 2005. The direct link to the airport was originally scheduled to be completed in 2013. Delays in the past decade were attributed less to actual construction problems than legal and design disputes and protracted negotiations involving Transport Quebec, CN and CP railways and two nearby hotels. On Monday, Dorval Mayor Edgar Rouleau and Marquette MNA François Ouimet took part in the ribbon cutting for the westbound Highway 20 ramp, alongside other officials such as Transport Minister André Fortin and Aéroports de Montréal CEO Philippe Rainville. The eastbound ramp from Trudeau Airport to Highway 20 opened to traffic Nov. 30. Rouleau said the ramp openings are a great step forward because they will ease traffic problems at the Dorval Circle and Côte-de-Liesse (Autoroute 520) junction — a welcome improvement for those who travel in the area. “This is only one phase of the whole ($350-million) project,” Rouleau said. “They opened the ramps now, which is very important because of the fact it will really take a lot of the traffic away from the Dorval Circle and the 520 (industrial zone).”

REDUCING TRAFFIC

While it’s estimated the new ramps will cut traffic at the Dorval Circle by 20 per cent on average per day, it will reduce the 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. weekday traffic at the circle by almost 50 per cent at this peak flight period, Rouleau noted. The focus now shifts to making repairs to the Dorval Circle, landscaping near the new ramps and moving forward with improvements to the Cardinal Ave. and Michel Jasmine Ave. artery connections. Rouleau said the work is expected to be completed by 2019. As for the much-maligned Highway 20-Sources Blvd. interchange along the Dorval/PointeClaire border, with its reduced ramp lanes and restrictions for heavy trucks, specifications for a new design for a potential replacement overpass have been discussed by Transport Quebec. However, Rouleau said there is currently no timeline to start such a project. With the ongoing Turcot Exchange-Highway 20 massive overhaul as well as other pressing infrastructure needs across the province, West Islanders shouldn’t expect Transport Quebec to finance a Highway 20-Sources interchange replacement anytime soon. At least West Islanders can rejoice in the fact that the “ramp to nowhere” is finally going somewhere, albeit at double the initial cost projection and several years behind schedule.