The major repair of the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel will be much more disruptive and costly than expected, announced the Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ) during a technical briefing on Thursday.
Posted at 1:25 p.m.
“To put it simply, we are building a new tunnel in the existing tunnel,” summarized an MTQ official.
Instead of the repairs that were first planned for the walls and the vault as part of the major repair of the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel, which began in 2020, the walls and the vault will have to be covered with extra thicknesses of concrete. As this work must be done in a “closed tube”, the two tubes, each with three lanes in one direction, will be closed in turn.
The three lanes towards the South Shore (south tube) will be closed from November 2022 to November 2024, and then those towards Montreal (north tube) until 2025.
Traffic in both directions will then be divided into the three remaining lanes, with two lanes towards Montreal and one towards the South Shore.
The structure turned out to be much more deteriorated than expected, the ministry explained. The vault, for example, would have 60% more damage than anticipated.
This scenario will increase the bill by $900 million.
Despite the planned mitigation measures, “very large” impacts, both to reach the tunnel and to exit it, are to be expected, recognized the MTQ.
Some 120,000 vehicles use the tunnel every day, 13% of which are trucks.
The Minister of Transport, François Bonnardel, and his Minister Delegate for Transport, Chantal Rouleau, are to give a press conference on the subject at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Mr. Bonnardel is also minister responsible for the Estrie region, while Mr.me Rouleau is the Minister responsible for the Metropolis and the Montreal region.