Get ready for more traffic headaches
Highway 20-St-Pierre St. interchange, Île-aux -Tourtes Bridge will be affected; more Highway 40 work under way
On top of closed exists and work along Highway 40 and the nearby l’Île-aux-Tourtes Bridge, motorists heading through SteAnne-de-Bellevue are being advised some inspections will interfere with traffic flow for several hours Wednesday under the Highway 20-St-Pierre St. interchange.
Wednesday, as part of ongoing inspection of road structures, Transport Quebec will close one lane in each direction on St-Pierre St. and Blvd. des Anciens-Combattants that goes under Highway 20 as part of an inspection of the overpass. A southbound right lane will close from 9 a.m. to noon and one northbound lane will close from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Transport Quebec is also commencing work this week on the l’Île-aux-Tourtes Bridge that will last about four months and will effect lanes in both directions, though rush-hour traffic coming from Highway 40 will be taken into consideration so that no obstruction will be permitted toward Montreal during the morning peak and toward Vaudreuil-Dorion during the evening peak.
Outside of rush hour, one to two of the three lanes in each direction will be closed.
For instance, weekdays, one lane will close on the eastbound side between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., and the two lanes will close between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. In the westbound side, one lane will close weekdays between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. and then from 8 to 10 p.m., then two lanes will close from 10 p.m. until 10 a.m.
On weekends, one lane in each direction on the bridge will close from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and then two lanes in each direction will close from 8 p.m. to 10 a.m.
Preliminary work for the reconstruction of a section of the concrete pavement of Highway 40 between St. Charles Blvd. and Blvd. des Anciens-Combattants also started last week. This project will be carried out in phases until the summer of 2013 but will be on hold during the winter months. Part of the work includes reinforcing the highway shoulders in order to allow traffic during the eventual reconstruction of the pavement of Highway 40 westbound, which is scheduled to start in 2013 and will force lanes to be diverted.
Meanwhile, the Exit 41 overpasses along Highway 40 have been closed since March 2011 and have forced motorists to use detours. In August, Transport Quebec agreed to fund technical studies and draft plans to deal with these two crumbling overpasses along Highway 40 that were shut down due to concerns about structural integrity by Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue.
Although financial details have yet to be agreed upon between the town and the province, it is anticipated the project will go to tender in spring 2013 with work commencing in the fall. A roundabout is to replace the two overpasses, which were built in 1965, along Ste-Marie Rd.