Additional departures will be added starting Wednesday on the Vaudreuil-Hudson train line to compensate for the impacts of the loss of a third track on the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge. The frequency will also be increased on certain bus routes.
This was confirmed on Tuesday by the Ministry of Transport in a press release. The idea had already been mentioned in recent days. Three departures will therefore be added on train line 11: one from Vaudreuil at 7:30 a.m. on train #16, another from Hudson station at 6:14 a.m. on train #12 and a last one from Lucien- L’Allier at 4:40 p.m. on train #21.
The measure will also be added to “around a hundred bus departures on routes 7, 10, 35 and 40 managed by exo with the financial collaboration of the government”, it was specified.
Since Monday, the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge has lost a third lane due to the appearance of a new crack. The infrastructure was also completely closed this weekend to implement the new track configuration, which is likely to be in place for a year according to authorities’ assessments.
In short, out of six lanes, there will only be three left, since two others were already closed. Quebec aims to “reduce the loads on the structure until the completion of reinforcement work which will ensure the integrity and safety of the infrastructure, while avoiding a complete closure,” it is said.
This new configuration will have “significant repercussions on the travel times of road users”, reiterated the ministry on Tuesday, which recommends favoring public transport and using the Chrono application to better plan their trips.
Inaugurated in 1965, the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge is now reaching the end of its useful life. It has been experiencing structural problems for several years and is undergoing a comprehensive reconstruction. Partial commissioning is planned for the end of 2026. In April, The Press reported that the bill to rebuild this bridge in the west of the metropolis would amount to almost a billion more than expected, a surge of 65%. The total bill to replace this two-kilometer bridge would be 2.3 billion.