Fears rise that road rage incidents will get worse as school starts in Montreal

Traffic jams in and around Montreal are fraying some motorists' nerves, and it's become an abundantly clear problem around the years-long construction project on the Iles-Aux-Tourtes Bridge.

With the traffic comes more road rage incidents, and now that school is back, there will be even more vehicles on the road, and there are fears that it may get worse.

Following the assault on a woman last week, at least two more people have come forward with similar stories involving extremely aggressive drivers around the bridge.

The ageing bridge has been under constant repair while a new one is being built, meaning traffic slows to a halt almost 24 hours a day.

Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon said residents are running out of patience.

"I receive letters, word from citizens, from people almost every day about the fact that they are fed up," he said. "They are tired; their patience is over, so that's why we see more and more stupid acts."

The biggest irritant for drives is that traffic moves from two lanes to one depending on the time of day.

Pilon feels that it doesn't need to be the case.

"Right now, though, the short-term solution would be at least to have two lanes in each direction," he said.

A Quebec Transport Minister spokesperson said they plan to do just that, but for technical reasons, it won't be in place before the end of 2024.

The municipality west of Montreal would also like large trucks re-director to Highway 30.

The ministry, however, does not have the authority.

Commuters admit that they're changing habits in some cases, while others said they've stopped doing business in Montreal.