MONTREAL - Transport Quebec says it hopes to reopen Mercier Bridge lanes toward the South Shore by September.

The lanes were closed late Tuesday after inspections found the span required emergency repairs.

That resulted in major traffic jams Wednesday morning on adjacent highways and other bridges.

Traffic on the South Shore-bound lanes was already restricted. Heavy trucks were barred from those lanes because of safety concerns.

The provincial and federal governments, which jointly own the dilapidated bridge, are doing major repairs to the span.

An average of 80,000 vehicles use the Mercier Bridge daily.

Transport Quebec is making changes to help alleviate traffic congestion.

The part of the bridge that normally takes motorists to Montreal will be used for traffic to the South Shore during part of the day - from about noon to midnight.

From midnight to noon, that part of the bridge will be used only for Montreal-bound traffic, as usual.

The Agence métropolitaine de transport will add trains on the Delson-Candiac commuter line as of Thursday morning and is working with regional transit authorities to see if buses can be added.

Quebec and Ottawa will also look into opening to car traffic the ice bridge next to the Champlain Bridge, as was done when the Mercier Bridge was temporarily closed during the 1990 Oka crisis.

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Is your commute affected by the Mercier Bridge shutdown? If you live on the South Shore, how will you get to work in Montreal and back home again?

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