Months of potential traffic chaos in the Notre Dame to Grace area have begun.
The ramps from northbound Highway 15 in the Turcot Interchange, coming from the Champlain Bridge and heading toward the West Island and downtown Montreal, are now closed..
Transport Quebec has to reconstruct the road bed on both ramps to ensure the Interchange will remain functional until it is demolished at some point in the next six years.
The provincial agency is suggesting the 20,000 motorists who normally use the ramps continue on Highway 15 and take the Cote St. Luc Rd. exit, then double back onto the Decarie Expressway southbound to access Highway 20 West or the Ville Marie Expressway.
Transport Quebec noted traffic may not be that bad, since not all motorists will use the suggested detour and will instead take the Mercier Bridge or the Bonaventure Expressway.
Lionel Perez, councillor for Cote des Neiges/Notre Dame de Grace, said Monday morning's commute went as well as could be expected.
"We have police presence, we have road engineers who are evaluating, we delayed the sewer work on Sherbrooke by another day, to see and obviously we hope with the collaboration with the motorists there will be minimal impact," said Perez.
However, finding ways to avoid Cote St. Luc Rd. may be difficult because of other roadwork taking place simultaneously.
The St. Jacques St. entrance to the Ville Marie Expressway was recently closed as part of plans to rebuild the Turcot Interchange.
Work is also set to begin this next week on Sherbrooke St. east of Decarie Blvd. which will leave one lane open for much of the spring and summer.
Meanwhile, the St. Jacques St. bridge over the Decarie Expressway will be demolished in May or June, after sewer work on Sherbrooke St. is completed
