



Last month, the Quebec Government unveiled the long-term plans for the Turcot Project. The project, which will take five years to complete and cost 3.7 billion dollars, will be the most costly road construction and maintenance project in the province’s history.

With plans to overhaul and revamp Highways 15, 20, and 720, the much needed repairs will create a long lasting commuter nightmare for half a decade. At the press conference held in October officials urged residents to be patient and cooperative. “There will be lots of detours and closed exit and entrance ramps to highways over the next five years, as the Turcot reconstruction project picks up steam,” the Montreal Gazette reported. http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/transport-quebec-to-better-communicate-turcot-interchange-related-detours

Transport Quebec, the government body overseeing the revitalization, hopes to maintain all existing lanes during the highway detour phase of the project. However, regardless of all the measures put in place by the construction and transportation teams there is bound to be major congestion and gridlock issues.

“During the work, there will definitely be impacts on traffic, but we’ll work very hard to come up with mitigation measures,” Sandra Sultana, Assistant Director of the Turcot, told reporters. “Project managers will keep an eye on measures put in place and adjust them if necessary.” http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/transport-quebec-to-better-communicate-turcot-interchange-related-detours

Foreseeing the traffic woes that are sure to arise from such an ambitious infrastructure endeavor, residents of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce penned an open letter to the local government urging them to take the daily lives of commuters into account. “We consider it to be pivotal to move people out of cars and onto public transit in order to improve traffic mobility in the sector,” the letter reads. http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/n-d-g-community-reps-call-for-rethink-of-public-transit

The citizen group has proposed that transit officials re-think some of the existing bus routes in order to ease the looming congestion. Recommendations included linking Bus No. 105 to No. 51, which would allow buses to avoid the narrow turnabout at the Elmhurst Terminal near the Montreal West train station.

“If we did that, the 105 would run all the way down Queen Mary, which would access the Jewish General Hospital, Ste-Justine Hospital and Collège Brébeuf,” Peter McQueen, a city councilor for Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, told the Montreal Gazette. “People would love that.” http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/n-d-g-community-reps-call-for-rethink-of-public-transit

Montreal’s Michael Genereux ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelgenereuxmontreal ) , a businessman ( https://about.me/michaelgenereuxmontreal ) who leads Gestion Termico and works with public transportation in Montreal, believes enhanced public transportation will help ease the traffic and tension created by the Turcot five-year project. Montreal’s Michael Genereux supports investing in infrastructure, but adds the caveat that we need to ensure that people get to work and school efficiently with little disruption.

The city has initiated efforts to increase the efficiency of public transportation in the affected areas. Michael Genereux comments that there is a temporary train station opening up in Lachine next year which will help divert some of the commuter traffic.

Genereux also points out that despite the headaches associated with the long-term project, the goal of the project, to get Montreal moving, will have long lasting benefits for all residents.

If all goes according to scheduled plans, Montrealers can expect to be traversing their city more efficiently by 2020.