Île-aux-Tourtes Bridge | “We will have to be patient”

“Hell. » This is how several residents of Vaudreuil-Dorion summarize the situation of the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge, where there are only two lanes of traffic left. Under pressure, Quebec officially launched construction work on the new structure on Monday, which must be partially commissioned in 2026.

On a journey that normally only takes her 10 minutes, between Valois and Jeannotte streets, Isabelle Hébert took 1 hour 30 minutes to bring her daughter to school on Monday morning. “Everyone goes via Highway 20, so it’s completely blocked. It’s hell,” breathes this resident, visibly irritated.

She deplores the fact that the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge “should have been repaired a long time ago”. In his eyes, the population is once again paying for government negligence over the years. “We will have to be patient,” adds M.^me Hebert.

The hope of having better is in fact still relatively distant. After receiving the most recent environmental assessments from the federal government, Quebec confirmed on Monday the launch of work on the new bridge, which must be partially put into service – with five lanes out of six – in December 2026. The six lanes would then be ready at the end of 2027 .

In the immediate future, the bridge will only have one lane in each direction for several weeks. Two lanes have in fact been closed in quick succession in recent days, due to damage discovered on the structure.

Until now, the work took place in the “preparatory phase”; in other words, the construction site was limited to tasks such as deforestation or the movement of goods. On Monday, however, the site entered the construction phase, starting with the riprap in the water which will be carried out over the coming weeks to prepare for the installation of the piles of the future bridge.

Winter and congestion

“Snow is the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” worries Isabelle Hébert. Like her, residents fear accidents will occur due to the impatience of motorists, difficult winter conditions and lack of space.

Initially, Quebec wanted to start construction work on the new bridge during the summer season, but delays linked to authorizations took longer than expected. “There, the contractor is well aware that we want to speed up the construction site as much as possible without of course affecting the safety of the workers,” assured Monday the director of communications for Minister Geneviève Guilbault, Maxime Roy.

The project, which has experienced several cost increases and which is now estimated at 2.3 billion, as revealed The Press in April, involves building a new bridge north of the current infrastructure, which will then be dismantled.

In each direction, there will eventually be three lanes of traffic for cars and trucks, as well as a four-meter shoulder that can be used by buses. A “multi-purpose path” of the same width will also be created for bicycles and pedestrians. Ultimately, the new bridge will be around ten meters wider than the current bridge.

In reflection… in the short term

In the shorter term, the Legault government also says it is considering relieving congestion on the current Île-aux-Tourtes bridge. “The bridge remains safe,” nevertheless assures those close to the Minister of Transport. “We closed it in 2021 and we would not hesitate to close it if there was an issue, or even to ban truck traffic if necessary,” said Mr. Roy.

Since Monday, train service on exo line 11 has been free for passengers boarding at Hudson, Vaudreuil, Dorion, Pincourt and Île-Perrot stations. Additional departures have also been added to the train schedule, as well as around a hundred bus departures which were already in effect on exo routes 7, 10, 35 and 40.

Several meetings took place last weekend between Minister Guilbault and municipal elected officials to determine other mitigation measures.

A request was also made to the government so that the two lanes remaining open are in the same direction during rush hours. This raises security issues, but an analysis is underway. Discussions are also taking place with the Quebec Trucking Association (ACQ) and the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).

For transport planning expert at the University of Montreal Pierre Barrieau, it would also be interesting to “accelerate” the work on the L’Anse-à-l’Orme branch of the REM. “It is this project that will really allow for decongestion, so given the context, we should move more quickly, even if it means sending additional machinery and employees to prioritize this antenna,” he said.

With the collaboration of Tommy Chouinard, The Press