51 major construction sites on Greater Montreal roads this summer, Guilbault promises to ‘do better’

With another busy summer of construction on Greater Montreal roads – 51 projects planned – Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault is promising to ‘do better.’

This comes after Montrealers were in hours of traffic on the May long-weekend amid closures on Highway 20 leading to the airport – many getting out and walking and others missing their flights.

In a press conference Thursday, Minister Guilbault spoke of communication challenges between all mobility partners and the need for everyone involved to meet more often to better plan and coordinate construction projects.

“We could all together meet more often and share this information and directly contribute to the planification of work done every year so that we’ll be better in 2024 and better in 2025. This is the commitment that I’m making today,” said the Guilbault.

“We have 51 worksites in the Greater Montreal Area this summer, 21 of which are under my responsibility at the Ministry of Transport, 19 at the City of Montreal, and the remaining ones are with the STM, Longueuil, and other partners.”

Most of Montreal to be affected by roadwork

Construction projects will span the island and beyond. The Ministry of Transport has already announced a partial closure of Highway 40 East in parts until December, a route taken by over 100,000 cars each day.

In the downtown core, repair work on the Ville-Marie and Viger tunnels will force many closures and detours all summer long.

On the Île aux Tourtes bridge, only two lanes in each direction will remain open in each direction throughout the summer. Plans are also in place for a temporary reserved lane on Highway 40 in each direction for buses, taxis and carpooling.

Work on the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel and the Honoré-Mercier bridge continues, while Highways 15, 13, 520 and 20 will also be affected in the coming months.

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The president of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, Michel Leblanc, congratulated Minister Guilbault on her willingness to meet and better coordinate.

“This meeting was a very important meeting, “Leblanc said at the press conference. “It had been a very long time since we had all met to discuss the worksites for the summer, and the process that leads to coordination and planification and eventually the communication that is required. The word I want to use is fluidity. We talk a lot about mobility, but right now the major challenge is whether it can be fluid when we move around the city.”

For her part, Minister Guilbault encouraged Montreal motorists to use the services available to them and not get unnecessarily stuck in gridlock because of roadwork.

“For people who are wondering, will there be work around my home, or on my way to work, go on the site of Mobilite Montreal. You have 51 worksites that are going to be in place this summer, and subscribe to 511. It’s not perfect, we’re working on improving the site, but you can subscribe to notifications so you can receive information without having to go look for it yourself.”