Highway 50 widening to 4 lanes over next decade, Quebec government says
CBC News | Posted: March 14, 2022 10:15 PM | Last Updated: March 14, 2022
96-kilometre stretch set to be completed in 7 phases
A 96-kilometre stretch of the highway that connects the Outaouais region to central Quebec will be widened from two lanes to four over the next decade, the Quebec government announced Monday.
The province said the widening of Highway 50 between L'Ange-Gardien and Mirabel, Que., is set to be completed by 2032. Work to widen the stretch between Gatineau, Que., and the municipality of L'Ange-Gardien began in January.
Local residents and politicians have been calling for the highway to be widened for years.
The highway has gained a reputation for being extremely dangerous in recent years due to a number of injuries and deaths, primarily caused by head-on collisions. With the expansion, the highway will move to having the directions of traffic divided.
"It doesn't get any more serious than this. Here it is, the 50 widening, you've got it," Quebec Transport Minister François Bonnardel told reporters in French during a press conference in Gatineau Monday afternoon.
The construction will be carried out in seven phases and will start in Mirabel after the stretch between Gatineau and L'Ange-Gardien is completed.
Government defends previous handling of roadway
The Quebec government initially had cable barriers installed along a short stretch of the highway, but experts said it would do little to keep people safe.
Mathieu Lacombe, the minister responsible for the Outaouais, defended his government's decision to use cable barriers.
"We had to make Highway 50 safer and that's what we did," he said in French.
As a local MNA, Lacombe admitted he has been afraid while driving on Highway 50 in the past and prior to joining the government he had concerns the highway wasn't getting enough attention from provincial officials.
"We often talked about Highway 50, and it was talked about as a symbol of government inaction. We thought that the Outaouais was not a priority for Quebec," he said in French.
The cost of the project has yet to be finalized, but Bonnardrel said it would be "hundreds of millions of dollars."