Dan Cholewa

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

The Quebec Transport Ministry (MTQ) has replied to The Suburban after an object hit the windshield of a Volvo SUV travelling underneath Autoroute 13 on eastbound Autoroute 40 Thursday night. The incident took place in the St. Laurent borough, not far from the Technoparc.

West Island residents Dan Cholewa and Hillary Cohen described the object as something akin to a meteor that travelled at what they felt was 100 km/hr and hit their windshield twice and bounced off their car toward the right, resulting in damage to the windshield, rear view mirror and front camera.Cholewa has said the Sûrété du Québec told him that a piece of highway came from a pothole that has since been filled, and that similar complaints came from other drivers. This reporter was on Autoroute 13 north of that area this past Saturday and saw some significant potholes heading south from Laval.

But the MTQ, responding to The Suburban late Monday afternoon through spokesperson Louis-André Bertrand, says that it was informed about the April 4 incident that a “vehicle had been damaged by debris while travelling on the A-40 East near the A-13 viaduct. A patrol officer from the Ministry went to the scene and concluded that the incident was probably due to a loss of cargo from a vehicle that had rolled into a pothole or a piece of ice that had broken off another vehicle nearby,” Bertrand added, also pointing out that April 4 was the day of a major snowstorm. There were also high winds that day.

“Punctures linked to the presence of a pothole, due to the thaw, were reported in the sector during the same period,” Bertrand wrote. “A pothole located on the A-40 West (therefore located in the opposite lane) near the A-13 was filled during the night from Thursday to Friday. The A-13 viaduct is in good condition and there are no safety issues. It has not been determined that a piece of this structure broke off. The ramp in question underwent repair work in 2021. There have been no reports of potholes at this location. Road users can inform the Ministry of the presence of potholes by using Quebec 511. For road users whose vehicle has been damaged, a claims procedure is available on the Ministry’s website.” n