It’s a new school year, but the same old traffic catastrophe.
Montrealers awoke on Tuesday to a post-Labour Day onslaught of roadwork, with roughly 40 roadwork projects of various sizes slowing commutes to a crawl.
According to city officials, it’s a record high for the number of projects going on simultaneously.
In addition to long-term, ongoing projects such as the reconstruction of the Turcot Interchange and the building of the new Champlain Bridge, major renovations are ongoing at other key arteries such as the Bonaventure Expressway and on Robert Bourassa Blvd.
One major delay was on the Champlain Bridge, with an incident blocking the bridge during rush hour that resulted in a 10 kilometre-long traffic jam that forced many drivers to reroute to other bridges.
City officials did say that traffic was not as bad as it could have been in the city itself, pointing to the drive from the Lafontaine Tunnel to downtown. That drive usually takes roughly 25 minutes and officials said delays slowed it only slightly to 28 minutes.
However, once downtown, things get sticky yet again, with major construction downtown on Peel St. and Camillien-Houde Way blocked to drivers.
City spokesperson Philippe Sabourin said there is good news, in that several of the projects that fall under the city’s jurisdiction are ahead of schedule due to this summer’s warm weather.
“This summer wasn’t rainy at all and because it was so dry… it was good for the city,” he said. “Fifty per cent of our major construction sites are in advance on our calendar.”
Drivers should note that on Tuesday night, the Bonaventure Expressway will be closed heading towards Montreal from 10:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m. Commuters who use that portion of the highway are advised to use public transit, instead.
