Quebec’s transport ministry is forecasting a week of traffic headaches ahead of the Formula E race and continuing construction on the Turcot interchange. 

Beginning Tuesday July 25, detours will be in place on the St-Pierre interchange, Highway 20 and Highway 136 Eastbound, as well as the Westbound 720.

Autoroute 720 East

  • On Tuesday, the Notre Dame exit from the 720 East closes but commuters will be able to turn left onto Papineau and reach the Jacques Cartier Bridge
  • Beginning Thursday evening, the Old Montreal/Berri/St Laurent exit will close.
  • Beginning Friday at midnight, the 720 East/Route 136 will be closed for its entire length.
  • The southbound ramp of Highway 15 to Route 136 will also be closed during this time.
  • Everything is scheduled to reopen at 5 a.m. Monday July 31.

Autoroute 720 West

  • Autroute 720 west will be closed between the Ville Marie autoroute (rue Panet) and the Sainte-Antoine Ouest entrance (Lucien L’allier) from Thursday July 27 at 7 p.m. until Monday July 31 at 5 p.m.

St Pierre Interchange (Autoroute 20 and Route 138)

  • There will be a complete closure of the eastbound ramp of route 138 to the eastbound Highway 20 from Friday at 11 p.m. to Monday at 5 a.m.

The sector around Viger, Saint-Antoine, Berri, and Notre-Dame is shut down to traffic as of Wednesday night.

Drivers heading to the Jacques-Cartier Bridge are being detoured to Frontenac or St. Laurent and then to Ontario and Papineau.

Marked detours will be set up on the network in order to direct users on the road. However, officials at the transport ministry suggest that commuters rely on public transportation to navigate through the city as construction is underway.

Free public transit

There is one bright light for commuters: public transit in Montreal will be free on Saturday, July 29 and Sunday, July 30.

For those who prefer to ride, Mayor Denis Coderre said Bixi bicycles would be available for free this weekend.

Bixi was already scheduled to be free as of 6 a.m. Sunday for rides up to 30 minutes long.