The Île-aux-Tourtes bridge will once again have to be completely closed to traffic throughout next weekend. Quebec will carry out maintenance work on the damaged portion of the structure’s slab, which only has two lanes available due to significant damage.
This was announced on Tuesday by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility (MTMD), in a brief press release. The complete closure will take place in both directions from Friday 11 p.m. to Monday 5 a.m. On Highway 40, between the municipalities of Senneville and Vaudreuil-Dorion, this means that it will be impossible to travel between Boulevard des Anciens-Combattants and Avenue Saint-Charles.
This is a second complete closure in less than a month for the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge, where traffic had already been interrupted during the weekend of November 25 and 26.
Heading west, access to Chemin de Senneville will nevertheless be maintained for users who must continue to travel in the area. The ramp leading from Highway 40 to the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge will, however, have to be closed on the Vaudreuil-Dorion side.
Quebec invites motorists to favor highways 20 and 30. On the latter, the toll has also been lifted, as a measure to mitigate the impacts of the closure of several lanes on the bridge.
All detour routes will be marked “by temporary signage and indicated using signs”, specified the ministry, which recommends that road users “allow more time to get to their destination”.
If possible, the authorities call on citizens to favor teleworking or to opt for travel by public transport. Several bus and train journeys have been free for several days now, in order to encourage as many people as possible to use them.
A priori, the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge will remain with two lanes – one in each direction – for another six weeks. “After that, we are talking about one more year to have more lanes available while waiting for the new bridge,” Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault said on Monday.
She went to the construction site to confirm the launch of work on the new bridge. The latter must be partially put into service – with five out of six tracks – in December 2026. The six tracks would then be ready at the end of 2027.
Quebec is also preparing to ban truck traffic in the right lane during rush hour on Highway 20, in order to alleviate congestion. Completely banning trucking on the bridge “would lead to other problems” on the municipal network, however, the minister argued on Monday.