The traffic nightmare that residents of NDG and Montreal West been dreading for years is slated to begin next week.
Transport Quebec has announced that preliminary work to demolish the St. Jacques St. overpass will start in earnest next Monday, Feb. 3, with an exact date for street and onramp closure to be announced very soon.
The closure comes despite repeated complaints from citizens and politicians that Transport Quebec should wait until all road work necessary for the MUHC superhospital is finished before demolishing the overpass.
The first step of the demolition of the overpass will be to close and permanently dismantle the St. Jacques St. entrance to Highway 720 eastbound.
That closure means drivers who want to access the highway will either have to head 2.5 km west and enter the highway from Angrignon Blvd., or head 1.5 km north only to get on Decarie Expressway heading south.
The second crucial change to traffic flow is the demolition and reconstruction of the St. Jacques St. overpass, a project which is expected to take two years.
Transport Quebec has said the reconstruction is necessary to lower the roadbed by about one metre as part of the reconstruction of the Turcot Interchange.
Residents are upset with this project going forward at this time because other roads that can be used are still under construction, and have been under construction for years.
Last year Transport Quebec agreed to delay the St. Jacques project, originally scheduled for August 2013, because Decarie Blvd. was still under construction.
However because of new regulations regarding which companies are allowed to do construction, and the verification process they must go through to prove they are not profiting from corruption, the final phase of the Decarie Blvd. rebuild in front of the MUHC superhospital was delayed, and a new contractor has not yet been selected.
