Queensway to see more turbine-blade traffic snarls
Trucks moving massive wind-turbine blades will continue to cause turbulence on the Queensway for the next several weeks, officials say.
Commuters have been tweeting pictures and complaining on Reddit about trucks carrying the giant green power components.
Turns out the big blades have been travelling since Aug. 22 from a factory in Tillsonburg to the Saint-Sylvestre, Que. area, where a new wind farm is under construction.
The MTO says that the aim is to have the wind-blades of the project, which includes 46 turbines, completed by the end of November but that’s dependent on weather conditions and the job site.
The turbine developer, Pattern Energy, says the project is slated for completion by the end of the year.
The MTO reports it issues permits for every trip, then the OPP reviews each trip request and determines where they’ll provide an escort. The OPP escort the loads as they leave the Siemens plant onto Highway 3 and at the interchange at Highway 401. The rest of the trip is on “King’s Highways” (smaller provincial highways), where private escorts are used.
Ottawa police cruisers escort the load through some sections of municipal roads in the capital region, the MTO said.
Passing through Ottawa might seem a circuitous route but according to the MTO, a slew of factors determine the “safest and most efficient” route, including the size of the load, turning radius, lane width, road construction and time of day.
One commuter complained on Reddit that “it’s like hitting a presidential motorcade, except the president is 75 metres long,” but another came to the defence of truckers, asking, “think they really want to be here during rush hour? It’s because they have to be.”
The 147-megawatt Mont Sainte-Marguerite Wind project, which is about 50 km from Québec City, in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, will generate enough power to run 27,000 homes, according to Pattern Energy.
Full-stage construction of the $263-million project developed with the municipalities of Sacré-Coeur-de-Jésus, Saint-Sylvestre and Saint- Séverin began in March. mgillis@postmedia.com