Carpool or take public transit, says government ahead of Lafontaine Tunnel closure

With the partial closure of the Lafontaine Tunnel beginning Monday, Quebec's transport minister is calling on affected commuters to come up with a Plan B.

As of Monday, three of the six lanes through the tunnel will be closed for three years.

To try to relieve some of the pressure, the Quebec government is considering enforcing carpooling for the tunnel.

Transport Minister Genevieve Guilbault toured the site Thursday. She said she still hasn’t made a decision on banning solo drivers, however, and appears to be taking a wait-and-see approach.

"We will adjust and we will adapt," said Guilbault. "We'll see Monday what will be going on and I think that people, when they see that this is very tense and very huge traffic in the tunnel, they might be convinced to take another solution so we might not have to go to this kind of measure where we forbid people to be alone in their cars."

Guilbault is asking solo drivers co make other plans by considering carpooling or taking public transit. Those travelling with others will be permitted to use traffic lanes reserves for buses, taxis and carpooling.

Some of public transit improvements to help commuters get to the island include:

•  free bus shuttles
• 2,400 more park-and-ride spaces
• increased service on the metro’s yellow line
• improved service on bus lines
• free river shuttles from Boucherville to Montreal

READ MORE: Services to make commuting easier during the work on the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel

Traffic expert Rick Leckner is in favour of banning solo cars through the tunnel and advised commuters to use the mitigation measures.

"Quebecers love their cars, we’re creatures of habit. If they don’t use the mitigation measures that have been put in place – and there are many – then they’re going to suffer. Not only them, but a lot of people are going to suffer," he said. "And they’re talking three to six times as long to get through the tunnel – that’s if there are no incidents. Heaven forbid there’s even a stalled car, or an accident, even worse, the tunnel, I know for a fact, will be closed."

Meantime truck drivers are asking the government for permission to carry heavier loads and therefore make fewer trips through the tunnel.

"We're working on the request," said Jean Seguin of Transport Quebec. "We have to understand that increasing the load to have to take out two containers instead of one per truck. There is that weight amount -- we're already close to the maximum weight allowed for the infrastructure to remain in good condition. So if we increase a load 20 per cent for thousands of trucks every day, obviously there might be some side effects on our infrastructures and then we might end up with more trouble."