BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report
“We’ve got to find a Plan B.” That is how Ste. Anne de Bellevue Mayor Paola Hawa summed up the crisis facing commuters who use the Île aux Tourtes Bridge after Transport Quebec last Friday announced the span will be reduced to one lane in each direction for up to three months.
And with the first major storm of the winter dumping about 30 centimetres of snow on the Montreal area on Monday, that crisis was thrown into full-throttle red alert as traffic to the West Island on both Highway 40 and Highway 20 was snarled in gridlock for hours and across distances that stretched for kilometres.
“At this point, I’m not sure what I am more afraid of – the traffic or the bridge collapsing,” said St. Lazare resident Monique Valada posting on social media.
The frustration, fear and shear bewilderment felt by residents of the region who travel to the island of Montreal every day for work and school is palpable. Their daily routines have been thrown into turmoil, with frustration levels and now even fear over the safety of the span hitting unprecedented levels. And all the emotion are tinged by the dread that the situation will push into the new year and possibly into next spring.
“It’s so frustrating,” said St. Lazare Mayor Geneviève Lachance responding to questions from The 1019 Report. “I really feel (Transport Quebec) is downplaying how it’s affecting our residents.”
“What is the plan if there are further closures?” Lachance asked. “What is the plan?”
“People are fearing the bridge will collapse,” she added. “People are saying they are afraid.”
The latest restrictions on the bridge are creating enormous costs to businesses as well as residents, said Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon.
A total of 46 per cent of employed people who live in Vaudreuil-Soulanges use the Île aux Tourtes Bridge to get to and from work on a daily basis, according to a study conducted for Développement Vaudreuil-Soulanges, the region’s economic development agency.
Pilon is frustrated that more is not being done by the Coalition Avenir Québec government to build the long-talked-about bypass route for Highway 20 through the old Dorion section of Vaudreuil-Dorion. Eliminating the traffic lights on that stretch of Highway 20 would help relieve some of the congestion in the region cause by the problems on the Île aux Tourtes.
When contacted last week, Marilyne Picard, the CAQ MNA for Soulanges, said studies to build the bypass route have been accelerated. But there is no timeline in place.
“When you don’t want to take action, you study it,” said Pilon, adding that the provincial government has been studying the bypass route that would see highway lanes built along a route north of Harwood Blvd. through Dorion for decades.
Pilon said prior to the 2012 election, François Legault campaigned in the region promising to solve the Highway 20 bypass issue.
“The plan is there,” Pilon said, explaining the bypass route has undergone three studies.
Properties have been expropriated to accommodate it, he added. “It doesn’t take (another) study.”
Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison did not respond to a request for an interview.