After seven years, work has finally resumed on an elevated highway linking Trudeau airport with Highway 20.
The project stalled several times when design plans had to be changed, but Transport Quebec now says the spans will be ready by the end of 2017.
Two elevated roads spanning the railroad tracks are being built.
“The main reason was to separate local traffic, airport traffic and also the highway traffic,” explained Transport Quebec spokesperson Sarah Bensadoun.
As many as 150,000 drivers use the Dorval Circle every day and Transport Quebec says once the ‘ramp to nowhere’ is connected to Highway 20, 15,000 people are expected to use that link every day, hopefully improving local traffic.
“In 2009, when we started working on the Dorval interchange project, it involved a movement of the railways but then the project changed and it wasn't needed,” said Bensadoun, who said the design was completely revised.
Transport Quebec said even though the price has increased since the beginning of the project – now set at $344 million - the decision to keep the tracks where they are saved money.
“If we did go ahead with that it would have been dozens of millions of dollars,” said Bensadoun.
A pillar that was already built on CP/CN land will need to be demolished, but project managers maintain that's just ten per cent of work completed.
The roads are expected to be finished by the end of next year. Remaining work around the two hotels and roads below the spans will continue until 2019.
