Sarah Bensadoun

New Ile-aux-Tourtes bridge construction update

By Chelsey St-Pierre
The Suburban

The anticipation for the new Île-aux-Tourtes bridge continues to grow as traffic related challenges continue to affect residents of the off-island communities.

The first of two structures, namely the westbound structure, is expected to be competed by the end of 2026, according to the Quebec Transport Ministry (MTQ). “At this moment, the building of the first of the two structures to transfer the circulation is expected in two years,” MTQ spokesperson Sarah Bensadoun told The Suburban.

Once opened to traffic, the westbound bridge will have five lanes open to vehicle traffic temporarily until the second structure is completed. Upon its expected completion in 2027, the second structure — which will service eastbound traffic — will have three lanes open to vehicle traffic, as will the first.

Meanwhile the old bridge is slated to be decommissioned toward the end of 2026.The two structures will have three vehicle traffic lanes as well as a cyclist lane, pedestrian lane and emergency lane, totalling six lanes per bridge, in either direction. n

New Ile-aux-Tourtes bridge construction update Read More »

Ile-aux-Tourtes: MTQ “shocked” at living nightmare for locals

By Chelsey St-Pierre
The Suburban

The Ile-aux-Tourtes bridge lane closures and intermittent full-closures are having devastating consequences on residents living in neighbouring communities. In an interview with the MTQ, spokeperson Sarah Bensadoun stated that she was “astonished” at the implication of The Suburban‘s questions on behalf of residents that were interviewed and stated that multiple public consultations took place beginning in 2015 until 2021 prior to the planned work. When asked why the MTQ did not start the work on the new bridge earlier to avoid the traffic-devastating effects on road users, Bensadoun again repeated that she was “shocked” at the question as the MTQ had conducted all the public consultations and that the construction was in their best interest.

When asked again, why the new bridge was not built before half of the existing bridge would need to be closed to traffic for repairs, Bensadoun said that the annual inspections prior to the more recent ones did not reveal that the bridge would be in such bad shape. The current situation with the existing bridge was not discussed in the public consultation meetings that Bensadoun kept referring to as she stated that the MTQ was unaware that the bridge was reaching its “end of life” prior to recent inspections. On the other hand, Bensadoun also stated that it is perfectly normal that the bridge would reach its end of life stage after 50 years.

According to members of local communities, it was obvious that the bridge was falling apart as it needed to be closed for repairs to the structure on dozens of occasions during the consultation period from 2015 to 2021 that Bensadoun kept referring to while speaking with The Suburban. “This is a symptom of a much larger malaise,” Chris from St Lazare said to The Suburban. “It is obvious that the bridge was falling apart long before they started the work.”

Steve and his wife, also from St-Lazare, say that they are missing out on time with their grandchildren. “We used to just drive over to Kirkland and around the West Island to spend time with them, to help out their parents or go to watch them participate at their activities. My kids used to come once a week and that has not been possible for months.”

Jessica from Rigaud suffered through hours of traffic while experiencing a high risk pregnancy. “My doctor was at the Lakeshore and I needed to get to my appointments a few times a week. I had to turn back home a few times because my body could not handle it.” Jessica said that after the baby was born and required medical attention on a regular basis, travelling was painful. “Can you imagine driving on that bridge with a newborn crying in the back seat?”

Athena from St-Lazare, representing a group of parents preparing to petition for access to the bus lane, says that students belonging to Anglophone public schools are often enrolled on-island as there is limited space for them off-island. “We are carpooling and doing the best we can. There are no bus services available to us and this is an issue that predominantly affects the Anglophone community with children attending public schools. There is no consideration given to circumstances affecting people living in the surrounding communities.”

Sophie, a single mom from Vaudreuil, says that the bridge situation has affected the custody agreement for her children. “From October to March, between the bridge and the bus strikes, it was difficult for them to come see me and spend time at my place.” Since the children’s father lives closer to their on-island Anglophone school, the kids remained primarily with their father, though they were supposed to have shared time with their mother.

Many residents also state the the signage is not clear enough from a distance where trucks passing through may not be aware ahead of time of the ever-changing situation. Susan from St-Lazare was injured in an accident on her way home from work in Pointe-Claire where her car was totaled after it was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler truck while her vehicle was at the end of the line in standstill traffic. “He came out of nowhere, crashed into me and propelled my car into the one in front of me. I leave for work now two hours early to avoid the traffic because this caused me so much anxiety. My hands are shaking just talking about it.”

Next week, The Suburban will be speaking with local community leaders and officials concerning the public consultations. Follow us at thesuburban.com or download our app for updates. n

Ile-aux-Tourtes: MTQ “shocked” at living nightmare for locals Read More »

Province, borough can’t fix Sherbrooke exit on Decarie North

By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

It can be maddening, as anyone who has spent more than a few minutes in gridlock will tell you.

The Sherbrooke exit on northbound Décarie is often much worse at rush hour, where the entire area’s fluidity is further complicated by the barricaded U-turn circling back south to Addington for those wanting to head west via de Maisonneuve.

Provincial highway infrastructure joins with arterial and residential streets across the city, but the concrete barrier and pylons dropped here each winter for more than a decade forces commuters to wait while trying to exit the highway, then inch their way up and onto Sherbrooke, through jams going west to circle south. It’s a slow route creating more traffic, more idling, more headaches, and more costly intervention with occasional SPVM officers managing traffic.

The obstruction of the 70-metre roadway does not appear on the city’s obstruction map, but it does show as “route fermée” on the province’s Info-Travaux.

NDG councillor Peter McQueen told The Suburban the roadway has been blocked by Transports Québec because MTQ snowplows that clear the U are too wide to drive down Addington ever since they built a sound wall. Asked why the U loop cannot be cleared with the same equipment used on Addington or bike paths and sidewalks, McQueen said “they cannot plow the U with a City of Montreal plow because the only way to access it is by coming off the highway. It has been like that since they built the exit and wall on Addington about 15 years ago.”

The ministry can clear snow from its ramp and turnaround, but the issue is with exiting onto the municipal road network, MTQ spokesperson Sarah Bensadoun confirmed to The Suburban. “The street is too narrow, due in part to the presence of vehicles parked on both sides,” she told The Suburban. “This is especially difficult after accumulations of snow, which shrinks the space even further.”

The department had previously cleared snow in this area, says Bensadoun, but after several episodes of plows being blocked, “the Ministry offered the borough two solutions to keep the U-turn open in winter”: prohibit parking on one side of the street in winter or take over clearing the U-turn, since the borough already has small snow removal equipment. “Since the borough had refused both proposals, the Ministry had no choice but to close this section each winter.” McQueen says removing parking on Addington was something that neither local residents or local businesses want.

Indeed, borough communications director Étienne Brunet told The Suburban the borough does not take care of this small turn “because there is no other access than by highway. To get there, our teams would have to take the highway and take a very long detour. Secondly, it is not part of the public domain for which we are responsible.”

Brunet added that the detour is only a few metres to get to Sherbrooke and go back down through Addington at the second light or to make the right turn on Sherbrooke and take Prud’homme to reach de Maisonneuve. “This is certainly an additional travel time, but it is safe to do so.”

The Transport ministry does not have small trucks, said Bensadoun, as they are not suitable for clearing snow from highways which represents the vast majority of their operations, and what small vehicles they do possess don’t have the equipment or power to clear highway roadbeds.

So in the meantime, the traffic infrastructure remains off limits to… traffic, but there is hope, as winter’s worst days seem behind us. n

Province, borough can’t fix Sherbrooke exit on Decarie North Read More »

Scroll to Top