Avoid Highway 20 East and Saint-Pierre interchange on Thanksgiving weekend; major construction planned
Quebec's transport ministry is telling drivers in and around Montreal to avoid the Saint-Pierre Interchange on Thanksgiving weekend as there will be a major closure.
When a similar closure took place in May, cars were lined up bumper-to-bumper along Highway 20 West, and many drivers were stuck in traffic for hours.
Some also missed their flights.
Starting at 9 p.m. on Friday until Tuesday at 5 a.m., Highway 20 will be closed in the eastbound direction at the interchange leading to the Honore-Mercier Bridge. To get downtown, drivers will be re-routed to Highway 13.
"The difference between last time and this time is that headed west, the option was to take the 15 north (Decarie Expressway), which has a lot of traffic already, as opposed to the 13," said MTQ spokesperson Louis-Andre Bertrand. "The 13 is a highway that's really busy on weekdays, so on weekends, there is more capacity to take extra traffic."
Transport Quebec still expects heavy traffic on the weekend, and is advising drives to take highways 40, 440 or 30 to head east.
The work will replace the concrete ramp connecting the Mercier Bridge to Highway 20 West, a change the ministry wants to do in one long weekend.
"We are doing preventative and maintenance work, so we don't have to do those emergency closures that would happen during the weekdays, and that would really impact traffic," said Bertand. "That's why, for this long weekend, for Thanksgiving, we need to do all that work on that ramp."
Traffic analyst Rick Leckner is relieved that the ministry is telling Quebecers in advance.
"The best thing for people to do is check before they head out," he said.
"Check Waze, check Google, check Quebec511 to make sure what's working and what isn't working and then just plan a road around it because there is nothing that is going to effectively replace that stretch of road."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Prince William and Kate release photo of daughter Charlotte to mark ninth birthday
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
This Canadian restaurant just lowered its prices. Here's how it did it
A Canadian restaurant lowered its prices this week, and though news of price tags dropping rather than climbing sounds unusual, the business strategy in this case is not, according to experts in the field.
Concerns about Plexiglas prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglas barriers.
'Oh, there you go': Tyler Black, son of veteran broadcaster Rod Black, has memorable Major League Baseball debut
Canadian baseball player Tyler Black made a major splash in his first-ever big league game for the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.
Groundbreaking American guitarist Duane Eddy dies age 86
Guitarist Duane Eddy, best known for twangy riffs on hits such as 'Rebel Rouser' and 'Cannonball,' has died at the age of 86.
Facial reconstruction reveals what a 40-something Neanderthal woman may have looked like
Scientists studying a Neanderthal woman's remains have painstakingly pieced together her skull from 200 bone fragments to understand what she may have looked like.
Weight-loss drug Wegovy available in Canada starting May 6
The makers of Ozempic say their weight-loss drug Wegovy will be available to patients in Canada starting Monday.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Goring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Ontario man loses $1,500 applying for Nexus cards on social media
The trusted traveller program between Canada and the United States is extremely popular and almost two million Canadians have a Nexus card.