Tuesday evening, Audrey-Anne Petit did not take a chance. Rather than deal with the Wednesday morning congestion when leaving her home in Repentigny to go to her internship site in Longueuil via the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel, she preferred to sleep with her mother, who lives in the borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
A situation that is not ideal, admits the 28-year-old student who returned to school at Cégep Édouard-Montpetit to be a dental hygienist. “I’m going to go two nights a week, see how it goes and if it helps,” she drops.
His decision was the right one. Traffic was heavy on this Wednesday morning to get to the South Shore. The vehicles were driving bumper to bumper on Autoroute 25 south from the 40, as well as on the ramp to access the 25 from the east, therefore from Repentigny.
When we join her at the Radisson metro station at 6:45 a.m. on Sherbrooke Street, the park-and-ride lot is already full. From her mother’s residence, it is at this height that she can take the highway to get to CEGEP.
On the 25, many trucks are frozen in the heaviness of the traffic and the red brake lights sparkle in the darkness, while the sun rises quietly. Small cars like Audrey-Anne’s try as best they can to squeeze between two large vehicles to access the two lanes of the 25, before entering the tunnel which narrows to one lane.
But the maneuver takes long minutes. As she tries to slip to the left, a truck driver, who we guess is overwhelmed by the traffic, speeds up and does not let her pass. “People are aggressive,” says Audrey-Anne.
It will take about twenty minutes to cross the tunnel, among the vehicles which drive slowly, but without stopping. She will be able to arrive at the CEGEP on time, around 7:30 a.m. A relief for the young woman, who is nevertheless worried about future snowstorms or accidents that will inevitably end up occurring.
Taking public transit is an option she could turn to, but it is more complicated. “Today I finish my internship at noon and then I have an hour to get to work, illustrates the one who would then have to board two buses in addition to the metro. I will lose hours of work”.