Ste-anne-de-bellevue council ratifies offer on Exit 41 interchange

If all goes according to plan, traffic will be rolling through Exit 41 off westbound Highway 40 in SteAnne-de-Bellevue by the end of 2014 — more than 3½ years after two overpasses at the exit were closed by the town.

On Monday, Ste-Anne council ratified an offer from Transport Quebec to build a T-style interchange to alleviate traffic woes resulting from the March 2011 closure of the Exit 41 overpasses that provided westbound links to Anciens Combattants Blvd. and Ste-Marie Road.

The province is to finance about 73 per cent of an estimated $1.5-million T-interchange project, with the city tabbed to pay about $400,000 of that amount. The demolition cost of the existing derelict overpass structures, which were built in 1965, are not factored into this estimate.

While Transport Quebec has agreed to fund the T-interchange project, this new infrastructure will remain under municipal jurisdiction.

The first step in the project, which will be managed by the city, is to hire engineering consultants this fall, a cost of about $150,000, to prepare detailed plans and specifications as well as more precise cost projections. Then, in early spring, the city will place a tender call for the construction.

City officials stated the accepted T-interchange was one of three possible scenarios on the table. The overhaul of the existing overpass structures, which council initially opted to close based on perceived safety concerns, was dismissed as not being a viable long-term solution, said director general Martin Bonhomme, who later acknowledged no cost estimates were determined for this alternative. A roundabout interchange was seriously considered by council last year but has, at about $5 million, been deemed to be too costly. Traffic flow at the Tinterchange, which is to include a vehicle loop detection system, will not be problematic based on a rush-hour patterns, Bonhomme stated.

“Once the study is done (this fall) we will have a complete idea of where the traffic lights will be installed and what will be the final shape of the T-intersection. Then, we will have a better estimate of the cost of the project,” he told The Gazette.

The city and Transport Quebec also agreed on a 50-50 cost-sharing formula to deal with any unforeseen hinderances that may be an issue after work starts next June.