The Quebec transportation ministry has opened a pair of roadways near the Decarie Expressway in hopes of lessening transportation chaos in the West End.

One of the new driving options is a ramp that allows motorists to exit the Decarie Expressway southbound at De Maisonneuve. The ramp was completed several years ago but never opened until now.

The highway exit was built to allow motorists to more easily access the superhospital with the plan being to allow traffic to turn left at De Maisonneuve and then continue south on Decarie to access the hospital.

However De Maisonneuve remains a one-way west and Decarie is still a one-way south below De Maisonneuve, so all motorists using the exit will have to take De Maisonneuve west alongside the CPR rail tracks.

Very few cars were using the exit as of Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile a loop parallel to, but just south of, Sherbrooke that allowed motorists to access the same area after exiting the Decarie northbound has also been reopened.

That roadway was closed in recent years for reasons that were never made clear.

The shortcut allows motorists to bypass Sherbrooke and travel south on Addington, and then go west along De Maisonneuve for up to around two kilometres when the roadway ends at West Broadway.

A representative of the Quebec Transportation Ministry told CTV Montreal Tuesday that the changes are designed to help West End motorists travel west.

"People who use this are mostly people living in the southeast sector of NDG. People who want to use De Maisonneuve to go further west now have a choice to go west using De Maisonneuve."

Meanwhile the long-closed train overpass at Decarie and De Maisonneuve/Upper Lachine appears almost ready to reopen but officials did not offer a timetable for that reopening.

The southeast NDG area has been inconvenienced by the permanent closure of the onramp to the Ville Marie Expressway, forcing thousands of motorists to add an extra 10 minutes to their drive downtown by taking residential St. Jacques West rather than the highway.

West End motorists will be further embattled when the bridge over the Decarie along St. Jacques will be demolished and replaced, forcing motorists to take elaborate detours for an extended period.