Photo: Jacques Nadeau Archives The Duty
The pandemic had forced the shutdown of construction sites between 25 march and 11 may, but work has resumed in the metropolitan area.
The advent of the construction season began in Montreal and some areas will be avoided in the next few months as the corridors of highways 10 and 15, between the Turcot interchange and highway 30, on the South Shore. Considering the multiple obstacles, the City of Montreal already warns motorists that they should opt for the bike or public transport if they travel in the west of the city centre.
The pandemic had forced the shutdown of construction sites between 25 march and 11 may, but work has resumed in the metropolitan area. The presentation of the different projects made on Thursday by Mobility Montréal, which brings together several partners, including the ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ), the City of Montreal and CDPQ Infra, suggests another been difficult for motorists.
Last year, the MTQ proceeded to work on the Décarie highway and head south. This time, these are the ways in the direction of north, who pass with the repaving that will be made the night and the end of the week. Highway 40 westbound between Saint-Michel and the Décarie highway, will also be under construction, but the work will be done only at night, said Sarah Bensadoun, spokesperson of Mobility Montréal.
The sector with the most “burning” will be the one of the corridors of highways 10 and 15, given a cocktail of projects carried out by the MTQ on the Turcot, of CDPQ Infra, and its Network of express metropolitan (REM), Signature on the St. Lawrence river, CN and the company Bridges Jacques Cartier and Champlain (PJCCI) during the months of June and July. “There will be several combinations of closures as it was known the end of last week where we closed the corridor of interstates 10 and 15 between Turcot up to highway 30,” said Ms. Bensadoun.
Balconville
The City of Montreal will also important works with, among others, 40 sites with ” major impacts “. The spokesman of the City, Philippe Sabourin, has reported a high concentration of construction sites in the west sector of the city centre. One of them will be on the rue Saint-Antoine, where a driving, major-84-inch line supplying the tank McTavish had to be replaced. Driving has been re-established, but barriers will be maintained between Guy street and Atwater avenue, he said.
A depression in the roadway occurred last December on rue Guy, between St-Antoine and René-Lévesque, has need of the work which will continue over the next few months.
Peel street will still be under construction this summer. This time, the work will be carried out between the rue Notre-Dame and the boulevard René-Lévesque in order to allow the replacement of underground infrastructure. “This is really an area to avoid considering the complete closure of this stretch,” said Philippe Sabourin.
In Griffintown, where residential construction is intense, significant infrastructure work will be necessary, particularly on William street, Peel, and Ottawa, with closures sometimes partial or complete.
Throughout the summer, de la Commune street, eastbound, will be closed between rue McGill and Prince. Between Saint-Gabriel and de Bonsecours, de la Commune street will be pedestrian this summer, was recalled by Mr. Sabourin. For its part, the construction of the Sainte-Catherine street West, between the boulevard Robert-Bourassa boulevard and Mansfield street, will continue.
The City will launch two new projects, one of the avenue du Docteur-Penfield avenue, which runs along the reservoir McTavish and which will require investment of 250 million, as well as that of the D’iberville street, between Ontario street and de Maisonneuve boulevard, which will require a full closure.
Philippe Sabourin warns motorists to avoid traveling by car in the area west of the city centre and in the vicinity of the Old Port due to major obstacles. “We are going to invite you to use public transport, and particularly transport assets. This summer, it will really be the summer of “balconville”. A lot of locals will choose to stay at home. The administration has put in place a network of approximately 200 kilometres of pathways where you can share traffic between bicycles, pedestrians and motorists. […] You have a context really special this year. “
The closure of the building due to the pandemic has led to delays, but the MTQ indicated that it had accelerated some of the work in extending the closures on the weekends. Thus, several barriers have started on the Thursday evening instead of Friday evening, continued until Tuesday morning in some cases. With respect to the construction of the Turcot interchange, which was completed in a proportion of 91 %, the work should be completed at the end of the year 2020, has supported Ms. Bensadoun.