Emergency measures last used two decades ago were brushed off, updated and implemented Thursday morning for South Shore commuters.
And while they seem to have worked, the traffic backlogs caused by the closure of one span of the Mercier Bridge have spilled onto other routes nowhere near the South Shore.
Commuters coming into Montreal from the South Shore were able to take advantage of three extra morning train departures, and three additional trains will leave the Lucien L'Allier station each evening.
The extra trains leave Candiac at 6:35 a.m., 8:25 a.m., and 10:30 a.m, and leave downtown Montreal at 9:35 a.m., 3:55 p.m. and 5:55 p.m. This is in addition to the six normally scheduled trains each way each day.
Drivers coming in via the Mercier Bridge have the northbound span all to themselves until noon, at which point the traffic flow is reversed in time for the morning commute, but that lack of ability to get to the South Shore in the morning is creating traffic delays on Highway 20 and the Decarie Expressway, as drivers are forced to use the Champlain Bridge or other ways to cross the St Lawrence.
Unfortunately the entrance to the Champlain Bridge from Decarie was restricted last week.
