Bonaventure Expressway to get $282M revamp into urban boulevard
Ottawa announced a new project to reconfigure the Bonaventure expressway, which was first built in 1966 and is nearing the end of its lifespan.
As a gateway to the City of Montreal, the highway is well-used and, in the words of federal transport minister Pablo Rodriguez, "it's ugly....it's from another era."
The piece of roadway is about to get a $282-million facelift.
The federal project will reconfigure the expressway into an urban boulevard that will change its appearance and purpose.
"It's not a highway anymore; it's a boulevard, so it's an urban configuration where pedestrians can cross the boulevard at some spaces," said Sandra Martel, the CEO of the Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc.
Speed limits will drop from 70 to 50 km/h, and traffic lights will be added to connect people to a new green corridor and a 2.5-kilometre-long multipurpose pathway.
Traffic lanes will be moved away from the shoreline, eliminating Carrie Derick Street. Construction is expected to start in 2025 and will only affect the non-elevated portion of the Bonaventure.
With 20 million vehicles using the existing autoroute each year, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante says the city is already considering ways to manage congestion.
"In this case, having the REM is a big; it's already there. For sure, we will look at what needs to be put in place during the work, so there's still options," she said.
Traffic specialist Rick Leckner says the traffic pain will be worth it in the long run.
"There's a lot of benefits to this, not least of which environmental, because that roadway was so close to the St. Lawrence River, creating quite a bit of pollution," Leckner said. "From what I see in the designs, it's quite attractive and it will allow for pedestrians, it will allow mobility through the area."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Large numbers of New York City police officers begin entering Columbia University campus
Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus.
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.