MONTREAL - West End residents are expressing outrage with the planned demolition of the road merge to Highway 20 eastbound which whisks motorists downtown from St. Jacques and Girouard.
City planners are planning to permanently remove the handy entrance and offer instead a different access over 1.1 kilometers away near Pullman and de Carillon.
That entrance would only open in 2017.
Motorists will also have to cope with the temporary demolition of the viaduct over the Decarie on St. Jacques between Girouard and Prud’homme, which will necessitate lengthy detours.
Transports Quebec representative Caroline Larose said that the work is necessary for the rebuilding of the Turcot Interchange.
“What we're doing is that we're lowering St. Jacques street about one metre and we're working in the Pullman, St. Remi, St. Jacques area to make sure this intersection is functional,” she said.
The road must be lowered to accommodate the upcoming Turcot Interchange rebuild.
The work will also require the third recent long-term closure of the St. Jacques exit from highway 20 westbound, this time for about a year.
NDG residents interviewed by CTV Montreal unanimously condemned the inconvenient plans.
They included Earl Wilson who has operated a business for 30 years in the St. Raymond’s parish of NDG.
“I'm working on right now replacing my business to another part of town,” he said.
