Work adds to traffic woes
Police will help direct vehicles during mornings
Two ramps of the Turcot Interchange will be closed to traffic for the next two months, exacerbating headaches for frustrated commuters in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. Andy Riga reports.
Next week’s closing of two Turcot Interchange ramps for more than two months is expected to exacerbate traffic problems in Notre-Damede-Grâce, already bracing for two other big road projects. The problem spots: Two Turcot ramps will close for long-planned repairs on Monday, for more than two months.
Combined, the ramps are used by 21,000 vehicles daily, including about 2,100 cars per hour during morning rush hour, Transport Quebec says.
Both ramps begin on Highway 15 north from the Champlain Bridge. One connects to the Ville-Marie Expressway east (toward downtown), the other to Highway 20 west (toward Trudeau airport).
Transport Quebec’s suggested detour: Continue north on Highway 15, exiting at Côte-St-Luc Rd. and Décarie Blvd., an already congested intersection.
From there, double back to Highway 15 south, from which drivers can reach the Ville-Marie and Highway 20.
St-Jacques St., between Décarie Blvd. and Girouard Ave., has been reduced to one lane in each direction, sending some downtown-bound traffic to Côte-St-Luc/Décarie.
This week, Transport Quebec postponed the planned complete closure of this section of St-Jacques, used by 21,000 vehicles daily, until June. It had earlier said the complete closure of StJacques would occur in April.
Sherbrooke St. sewer work is to begin Monday, between Northcliffe and Grey Aves., used by 25,000 vehicles daily.
All but one westbound lane will be closed for six weeks. After that, Sherbrooke will have one lane open in each direction for four weeks.
If the sewer work goes as planned, all Sherbrooke lanes should be open by June, Côtedes-Neiges/N.D.G. borough mayor Russell Copeman said.
At a public meeting about Turcot work on Monday, Transport Quebec official Guy Rivard acknowledged the Turcot ramp closures will worsen traffic in N.D.G., but suggested most drivers will find alternative routes.
He said Transport Quebec is dealing with traffic headaches at Côte-St-Luc/Décarie via technology that monitors car lineups and automatically changes traffic lights to improve traffic flow.
But Copeman said that “intelligent traffic light” technology is not helping much.
During morning rush hour, traffic backs up for many blocks on Côte-St-Luc and on Terrebonne St., he said.
To keep cars and buses moving and to protect pedestrians, Montreal police will direct traffic at three N.D.G. intersections in the morning, and perhaps afternoons as well, Copeman said.
As of Monday, police will be stationed at Côte-St-Luc/ Décarie and N.D.G. Ave./ Girouard Ave., both of which will be affected by the Turcot and Sherbrooke work, Copeman said. Officers are already directing traffic at Décarie/St-Jacques.
In addition, Copeman said that by the time St-Jacques closes in June, the city should have reopened part of a key north-south underpass at Décarie and de Maisonneuve Blvds. That underpass has been closed since 2011 so it could be widened to accommodate a flood of new traffic when the MUHC superhospital opens next year.
“We have to have Décarie open by the time St-Jacques is closed” to provide an alternative to drivers, he noted.
The Décarie/de Maisonneuve reopening was delayed by corruption checks on bidders, but the city said it will soon be able to give a contract for paving work that will open a section of the underpass.
To encourage transit use during the road closures in N.D.G., Transport Quebec is financing a new reserved bus lane on Sherbrooke St., between Elmhurst Ave. and Décarie Blvd.
The latest estimate is that the bus lane will be open by May, before St-Jacques closes, the Société de transport de Montréal said Tuesday.