Motorists can once again travel on Highway 20 westbound near Drummondville, announced Transports Québec. Eastbound work was expected to be completed before Monday morning rush hour.
Posted at 10:43 a.m.
Updated at 10:19 p.m.
« Reopening #A20 heading west to Drummondville, Transports Québec said on Twitter Sunday evening. Paving of the eastbound lanes continues. According to our forecasts, the full reopening should take place during the night, the time to complete the required work. »
“We are confident that by the rush hour of [lundi] morning, the work will be finished and we will have proceeded to a complete reopening of the highway, ”said the spokesperson for Transports Québec, Louis-André Bertrand.
The important road link between Montreal and Quebec had to be completely closed in both directions on Saturday due to a risk of subsidence of the roadway in the Drummondville sector.
“The contractor in charge of the site, under the supervision of Transports Québec, has begun emergency corrective work aimed at restoring traffic. This work will last all day and will probably have to continue in the evening,” the Ministry said on Twitter on Sunday morning.
Mr. Bertrand clarified that it was “the appearance of three chimneys, therefore holes, near the highway” which led to the emergency closure of the lanes.
Municipal aqueduct works on a pipe that passes under the highway would be the cause of the appearance of these chimneys in the central reservation and on each side of the tracks, reported Mr. Bertrand.
“We are talking about emergency corrective works which include excavation, backfilling, soil compaction and then asphalting of the roadway,” he described.
Despite a detour route set up via exit 181 (boulevard Foucault), rue Montplaisir, route 122 (rue Saint-Georges) and route 143 (boulevard Saint-Joseph), significant congestion had settled in the area Saturday.
Sunday, at the end of the afternoon, the situation had hardly improved.
In a press release, the City of Drummondville invited the population to avoid the area as much as possible.
With The Canadian Press