Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel | 60% of users will have to change their habits

The majority of motorists using the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel will have to change their habits so that the imposing construction site does not turn into a nightmare. This is the observation made by the Ministry of Transport (MTQ), which will close on October 31 three of the six lanes of the infrastructure until the end of 2025.

Henri Ouellette-Vezina
The Press

“Of course there will be an increase in travel time to access the tunnel. In the direction of Montreal, travel times will be three times longer. And in the direction of the South Shore, we will go to travel times which are four times higher, ”conceded Thursday the engineer for the entrepreneur Renouveau Lafontaine, Geneviève Campeau, at a press conference.

Its assessment is based on the fact that up to 60% of daily tunnel users will have to adapt their habits, mostly motorists. “Mathematically, it would have to come to that. That’s why it’s important to find solutions to transit to the South Shore, in particular,” she said.

More concretely, this means that approximately 72,000 of the 120,000 users using the tunnel on a daily basis would have to turn to public transport, or change routes. Behind the scenes, however, it is pointed out that as traffic in the tunnel is already down, this figure could be revised downwards.

Quebec, however, assures us: “closing one lane towards Montreal and two lanes towards the South Shore is the least restrictive scenario overall for users in terms of travel”. “There would have been more congestion if we had only opened one lane in the direction of Montreal,” explained Thursday the director of major road projects in Montreal, Martin Giroux.

Officially, the kick-off of this imposing project will take place on October 31. But motorists will have to deal with major obstacles from October 21. That weekend, between Friday evening and Monday morning, the tunnel will be completely closed northbound in order to install lane usage lights and concrete guardrails. Marking and signaling operations will also be carried out.

From October 24, it will also be necessary to plan for “night closures during the week to complete certain activities”, say the authorities. Then, between October 28 and 30, the Louis-Hippolyte-Lafontaine tunnel will be completely closed in a southerly direction, in order to install diversion lanes and, again, concrete barriers.

Bonnardel believes in it

If he concedes that the challenge will be difficult, the Minister of Transport, François Bonnardel, assures that he believes that it is possible to take it up. “We have no choice but to go through this work”, he pleaded at a press conference, recalling that the repair of the tunnel must take place to avoid other major works during the next 40 years. “We will need everyone’s collaboration,” he said, inviting employers to adapt their employees’ schedules as needed.

At his side, the Minister responsible for the Metropolis, Chantal Rouleau, estimated that “solo driving is proving to be the worst solution” in the context. “This is the perfect opportunity to migrate to public transit. The next few weeks will not be easy. They will require adaptation and patience, ”she insisted.

Precisely, the Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ) ensures that it will put several mitigation measures in place, both for motorists and users of public transport. A real-time display of the travel time to reach the tunnel will be available, in addition to an increased police presence and responders or tugs near the tunnel.

“We will also have five free incentive parking lots in place, with approximately 800 spaces added in recent months,” confirmed Assistant Deputy Minister Jean Séguin.

The De Mortagne, De Touraine and Belœil parking lots will each have several hundred additional spaces, for a total of 2,400 spaces available. The bus lines that leave from these parking lots will become free, and will culminate in the Radisson metro using reserved lanes, with a frequency every 10 minutes. In general, several local bus lines will be improved, as shown in the map below.

Two free tickets will be distributed at the Radisson metro station to users who board or disembark the shuttles, between 5:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. every day, for six weeks. On the yellow line, a metro car will be added during rush hour, under an agreement with the Société de transport de Montréal (STM).

Lines 82, 120 and 125 of the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL) will also be improved. Other local lines, such as the 532 from Varennes, will also pick up the pace. “We will have a good capacity to transport people,” assures Mr. Séguin.