Tens of thousands of construction workers are now on holiday in Quebec, and their families are taking breaks along with them.
Eighty percent of the province's construction workers will be on vacation from July 21 until August 6, 2018. The province sent out more than 151,000 payments for vacation pay to workers for the break -- more than $420 million.
Many commercial construction sites, such as the CHUM hospital, will be quiet for the duration but building will not stop on major public works such as the Turcot Interchange, the Champlain Bridge, and schools.
Martin Girard of Transport Quebec said that the number of people on the road will be high over the next two weeks, but that the number of people travelling during rush hour will drop.
"That's why they need to plan. We expect sometimes it could cause some traffic in certain areas at different times of the day, but people should plan their trip and to know exactly where are the roadworks and to make sure they will arrive at the destination at the right time," said Girard.
He added that many roadwork sites will appear to be idle, but that is frequently not the case, with work in many locations taking place at night.
The Sureté du Quebec said more officers will be on patrol, be it by car, motorcycle, boat, or from the air, during the construction holiday.
Last year there were more than 20 deaths in highway crashes during these two weeks.
