Two days after a tanker transporting diesel fuel exploded on the Metropolitan, killing the driver, the roadway has been fully reopened.

 

On Wednesday, officials for the Sureté du Quebec and Transport Quebec said inspections would have to be done following the gathering of evidence.

While eastbound lanes had reopened less than a day after the fire, no timeline had been given for the reopening of Highway 40 westbound, though Transport Minister Jacques Daoust had said that in a best case scenario, it would be a matter of days, not weeks. 

On Thursday Daoust said work took place at a feverish pitch overnight. 

"We were planning to work on it today, tomorrow, or maybe the day after. But since the concrete was okay, since the structure was safe, we said we will try to reopen, so we worked all night," said Daoust. 

While all three westbound lanes were reopened as of 6:30 a.m., the entrance at Christophe Colomb remains closed. 

At a press conference on Thursday morning, officials said the reason for the quick reopening was that by by 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, all tests on concrete core samples taken from the Met had been completed and showed the roadbed was undamaged by the fire.

They said a fast response by the Montreal fire department minimized the possible damage and credited the use of foam and sand to soak up leaked fuel as helping to protect the concrete from the heat. 

While the concrete is undamaged and new asphalt was laid down overnight, there is still damage to the median and the walls must be repaired. Daoust said the repairs will be carried out in overnight hours so as not to disturb the flow of traffic. 

Work will take place overnight, with one lane closed as work is done.

Since the crash, many people have questioned the wisdom of transporting dangerous materials through a major city.

McGill Professor Vedat Verter said there are many ways to reduce the risk.

"You can completely ban the use of certain road segments through very sensitive areas, you can use time based curfews meaning that they cannot be there during certain times," he said.

Critics say that is possible, but requiring trucks to detour around a city would require political will.