Quebec will intensify its surveillance by photo radar on the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge, still deprived of four out of six lanes, in the hope of making motorists slow down. The maximum permitted speed limit will also be lowered by 10 km/h from Monday.
“Observations carried out in the field show that users tend to accelerate considerably on the bridge, which increases the risk of accidents,” the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility (MTMD) argued in a press release on Friday. .
From December 18, upon returning from a weekend when the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge will also be entirely closed to carry out maintenance work, surveillance will therefore be “increased” on the structure by means of mobile photo radars in both directions.
Certain “educational radars”, i.e. light panels displaying the speed of motorists, have also just been installed. The speed limits on the approaches to the bridge have also been marked on the roadway, with the aim of “raising awareness among road users throughout their journey”.
The maximum speed limit will be 60 km/h on the bridge from Monday to limit the risk of collision. Until now it was 70 km/h. This last limit will also remain in the construction site area near the bridge, where more than one lane is open per direction.
Please note: when an offense is detected by a photo radar, no demerit point is applied, but the amount of the fine is doubled when it occurs in a road work zone, as is the case for the bridge of Île-aux-Tourtes.
The latter will remain 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.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Visit to the work on the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge with the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault.
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.