Montreal's annual construction season is getting an early start this year.

The access ramp that connects Highway 15 north to the Ville-Marie Expressway is closing down in about six weeks.

With no efficient detour plan, the ripple effect will be severe – roughly 1,000 vehicles per hour pass through the expressway during rush hour.

Scheduled to be torn down at the beginning of April, commuters will be looking for alternative routes like Atwater Ave.

With the unprecedented amount of construction work taking place this year, however, the number of options is limited.

“There's only so much you can do with the existing inventory and therein lies the problem, particularly when you reduce probably by 40 to 45 per cent that inventory of roads,” said traffic analyst Rick Leckner.

Efficient detours are in short supply.

The first inclination many drivers may have is to continue north on the Decarie Expressway to Cote St. Luc Rd. and then to turn around and go south, but this intersection was not designed for that volume of traffic.

“Everything has a capacity and I think that one is way overboard,” said Leckner.

In addition to the volume of traffic, drivers who chose that detour will face another problem: the merge from Decarie south to the Ville-Marie east will be reduced from two lanes to one as work on the Turcot Interchange progresses.

Leckner says usually drivers can find their own manageable detour, but this year may be a challenge

“Really here this time, we're going to be limited,” he said.

Another option drivers may look at to access the downtown core could be the Bonaventure Expressway, but it has its own challenges, said Leckner.

“There is just so much other work that's going to be done in parallel with this that we have to find a route that's going to be meaningful,” he said.

The transformation of the Bonaventure into an urban boulevard continues this year and from time to time access to the Ville-Marie will be closed.

Transport Quebec did not return calls to ask about their plans to detour motorists were not returned.

With the limited number of options available and the amount of work that's coming, Leckner said commuters may have to rely more than ever on carpooling and public transit.