BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report
The Île aux Tourtes Bridge will be completely closed this coming weekend as work crews reconfigure the lanes to permit the reopening of a fourth lane on the span, marking the first time in more than three years that two lanes of traffic will be available in both directions.
The weekend closure will also mark the 10th time since the beginning of 2024 that the span, which links the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region to the island of Montreal along Highway 40, will be completely closed to traffic to accommodate the ongoing work to repair the old span as work to build a new bridge continues. Several partial closures of the span that limited its use in only one direction have also been needed in the last 16 months.
The bridge is expected to be closed from midnight Friday until 5 a.m. on Monday, April 28, with traffic diverted from the St. Charles exit in Vaudreuil-Dorion in the eastbound direction, and from Anciens Combattants Blvd. in Ste. Anne de Bellevue in the westbound direction. Tolls on Highway 30 will be lifted during the closure.
According to Transport Quebec, putting a fifth lane into service on the six-lane span is the next objective. No projected date for that has been offered, however.
The weekend closure will permit the painting of new lines to delineate the new configuration of the lanes, make repairs to an area of the surface of the span that had been damaged during earlier repair works and to install two beams.
The reopening of the fourth lane comes as major re-enforcement work on the span has been completed, Transport Quebec said. This includes reconstruction of much of six supporting pillars.
When the fourth lane is reopened, trucks will be prohibited from using the right lanes in each direction on the span, while overloaded vehicles will continued to be barred from the route at all times.