Montreal tries to get ahead of 'carpocalypse' with new traffic measures
Change in traffic light patterns, police presence at intersections among city's efforts to moderate congestion
Get ready for more traffic, Montreal.
This weekend, the Ville-Marie Expressway and Highway 20 West are completely closed between Robert-Bourassa Boulevard and 1st Avenue in Lachine.
That's not all: two downtown on-ramps to the 720 West, at Lucien L'Allier and Du Fort Streets, will be closed from Monday until 2019.
That means that at rush hour, there will be 5,000 more cars driving on Montreal city streets, as people leave work heading west.
These changes have to do with the final phase of roadwork on the Turcot Interchange.
"Be aware there's going to be enormous traffic," said city councillor Craig Sauvé. "Some of us call it a 'carpocalypse.' It's basically as rough as it's going to get."
The southwest areas of the city will be especially affected by the traffic surge, according to city spokesperson Philippe Sabourin.
City undertaking ways to help
In light of the upcoming increase in westward traffic coming for Montreal, the city is putting in place some measures to help get its citizens moving.
The patterns on traffic lights at 35 intersections near the Turcot Interchange work site are being changed.
City workers are running computer simulations of traffic lights in an effort to help ease the anticipated traffic increase.
- Turcot Interchange work on schedule, but drivers face peak traffic diversions
- Get ready for 2-year closures on the Turcot Interchange starting tonight
The city will also be monitoring the entire situation with 520 traffic cameras.
"We're trying to do our best, making sure our citizens will move as easily as possible, but to be honest, it's going to be a tough ride on Monday," said Sabourin.
The city is advising drivers to use the WAZE app, a smartphone GPS navigation software, or simply to use public transport to avoid the traffic surge.
With files from Matt D'Amours