Drivers will need to pack a lot of patience this summer as the road work blitz begins.
There are 44 major road projects being planned by Transport Quebec and the City of Montreal on the island but that doesn’t include the nearly 900 public works projects on local roads.
Almost every area on the island is impacted by the construction projects, from local borough roads to major highways.
The first closures begin this weekend. The entire Ville-Marie tunnel will be closed to all traffic in both directions as of Friday at 11 p.m., lasting until Monday at 5 a.m., and Route 136 East toward downtown will be completely closed.
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“Completely closed, so no possibility to go to downtown Montreal by road,” said Transports Québec spokesperson Sarah Bensadoun.
A lot of the scheduled work is on the rebuilding of the underground infrastructure and repaving highways.
Work on the Ile-aux-Tourtes Bridge continues and part of A40 in the West Island is being repaved.
Closures on the metropolitan expressway at the Decarie interchange, which is used by 200,000 vehicles a day, are also planned for two weekends this spring and summer.
“We only have two weekend closures but two major hindrances,” Bensadoun said.
Officials are urging people to use public transit to get around when roads are closed on the weekends — but city buses often get stuck in traffic with other cars and very few commuter trains run on weekends.
“The train schedule is really set and it’s not that easy to move around but it’s something that we’re discussing with our partner in the long run,” Eric Edström, an exo spokesperson, told Global News.
Many drivers may just prefer to stay away from downtown to avoid the traffic mess.
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