Turcot Interchange gong show set to begin Monday
Heading west from downtown Montreal about to get difficult until - gulp! - 2019
If you thought heading east along the Turcot Interchange was hard, heading west is about to get a whole lot harder as of Dec. 11.
Most westbound entrances in downtown Montreal are set to close, while others will be reconfigured, as the westbound lanes of the old interchange are dismantled.
Traffic will be moved to a road next to the highway, with two lanes open to drivers.
Though most road closure notices from Quebec's Transport Ministry mention the day and time that a road will reopen, this notice states the closure will last — yes, you are reading it correctly — for a year.
A number of entrances will be closed until 2019, including the ramps from Lucien L'Allier Street, Du Fort Street and Monk Boulevard in Côte-Saint-Paul.
A temporary entrance will be opened at Rose-de-Lima Street, accessible from St-Antoine Street West.
Transports Québec says a number of changes will be made to try and alleviate the headache for drivers.
"Expect a major impact on traffic," the ministry's website notes, adding that drivers should be extra vigilant when looking at orange road signs during the roadwork.
More closures coming on weekends
If you think it may be easier getting around on weekends — think again.
Between now and next spring, the westbound Ville-Marie Expressway will be closed completely almost every weekend as the old highway is demolished.
The majority of the closures involve restricting access to the replacement roads of Highway 720 in both directions.
That means that if you want to head west from downtown, you'll have to take local roads, at least for the first part of your trip.
The second phase of construction will take place between summer 2018 and fall 2018. Closures for that portion have not yet been set.
With files from Sarah Leavitt