La Fontaine tunnel partially shut for next three years

The much anticipated road-work in the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel began Monday morning forcing the closure of three out of six lanes. Two lanes remain open Montreal bound, and one lane is open heading South-bound.

The tunnel will stay partially closed for three years, until November 2025, and the effects are expected to be felt on and off the Island.

Quebec’s Transport Ministry warns it will be a challenge for everyone but they have put some “Plan B” options in place.

“It’s an adaptation period for everyone right now,” said Transports-Quebec spokesperson, Louis-André Bertrand. “We’re figuring out what’s our options, how to get to the South Shore, how to get to Montreal.”

Firstly, they encourage all commuters to carpool in order to reduce the number of vehicles on the road. Carpoolers can take advantage of reserved bus lanes.

#WATCH: “Now, it’s up to companies,” says traffic expert @RickLeckner, on employers of motorists who use the La Fontaine tunnel. He says solutions have been put in place by authorities, now companies should help out employees to avoid a traffic mess

READ: https://t.co/iwwLaFbSG0 pic.twitter.com/r72PymVxiC

— Alyssia (@rubertuccinews) October 31, 2022

“We all have a role to play, so we should try to carpool if we can,” says traffic expert, Rick Leckner. “Major companies on the South Shore and on the island in close proximity to the tunnel should be doing something if they already haven’t to try to get people together, create special parking in their company parking lots.”

The Transport Ministry also suggests working from home or travelling off peak hours, if possible.

Free public transit is also being offered to cross to-and-from the South Shore, including buses and free STM rides from Radisson metro station.

Free parking lots have been added in Beloeil, Boucherville, Varennes and Sainte-Julie with shuttle buses taking commuters to the Radisson metro station.

The STM is also increasing service on the yellow metro line from Longueil.

Visit this website to see the full list of options available for commuters.

You can also consult this interactive map before leaving home to determine what the current wait time is in the tunnel.

“Every morning commute, every afternoon commute, we have a committee, a tactic group that organizes and gets together twice a day to see how did it go is there are improvements we can do,” said Bertrand.

On Monday, traffic coming into Montreal wasn’t too bad. “100 per cent, it’s going to be worse. I take this commute everyday. Mondays is the best day to drive, the rest of the week is not going to be good,” said motorist Jason Ratchelous, who drove into Montreal via the LaFontaine tunnel.

“I know that today is Halloween and so people stayed at home to go Halloween with the kids,” said Mathieu Langevin. “But we’ll see tomorrow.”

Sophie Gagnon from St.-Bruno says her drive into the island went well and wasn’t sure why. “Maybe because they scared us?” she asked.

“But it took me the same time it took to cross as it did one month ago: 33 minutes.”

The traffic headed South-bound was worse during rush hour Monday.

In August, Quebec announced the 55-year-old La Fontaine tunnel was in rough shape and would need work. The initial price tag was $900 million.

Some 120,000 vehicles drive through the tunnel daily, approximately 15,000 of those are trucks.

For many of those motorists, the road ahead looks slow-moving. 

“It definitely causes major delays,” says Ratchelous. “Normally my commuting home is 25, 30 minutes and it’s going up to double that easily, so it’s definitely an inconvenience.”